m. 


n 


- 

LOANED 

BY 

TELFAIR  ACADEMY  of 
ARTS  and  SCIENCES 

1822. 


,^i. 


r 


V<  A 

VOYAGE 

FRoai  1806  TO  1812; 

IN   "IVHICBc 

JAPAN,   KAMSCHATKA,  THE  ALEUTIAN  ISLANDS,  AND 
THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS  WERE  VISITED; 

INCLUDING 

A  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  AUTHOR'S  SHIPWRECK  ON  THE 

ISLAND  OF    SANNACK,  AND  HIS    SUBSEQUENT 

WRECK  IN  THE  SHIP'S  LONG-BOAT: 

WITH    AN    ACCOUNT    OF    THB 

PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  SANDWICPI  ISLANDS^ 

AND 

^      A  VOCABULARY  OF  THEIR  LANGUAGE. 
BY  ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL. 

Third  Amtrican  Edition — Illustrated  by  a  Chart 

^ ' ^— TP 

CHARLESTON,  (S.  C.) 

?RINTED  BY  DUKE   &  BROWNE,  9  BROAD-STREET. 


1822. 


Southern  District  of  New-York,  ss. 

BE  it  REMEMBERED,  That  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  No- 
vember, in  the  forty-first  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  Archibald  Campbell,  of  the  said  district,  hath 
deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  rig^ht  whereof  he  claims 
as  author  and  proprietor,  in  the  words  and  figures  following,  to  wit : 

"  A  Voyage  round  the  World,  from  1806  to  1812,  in  which  Japan, 
Kamschatka,  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  the  Sand^vich  Islands  wer«, 
visited  ;  including  a  Narrative  of  the  Author's  Shipwreck  on  the  Isl- 
and of  Sannack,  and  his  subsequent  Wreck  in  the  Ship's  Long-boat  ; 
with  an  account  of  the  present  state  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  a 
Vocabulax-y  of  their  Language.  By  Archibald  Campbell.  Illustra- 
ted by  a  Chart." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  enti- 
tled, "  An  Act  for  the  encouragement  os  learning,  by  securing  the 
copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of 
such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned  ;"  and  also,  to  an 
act  entitled,  "  An  Act,  supplementary  to  an  Act,  entitled.  An  Act  for 
the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts,  and  books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  du- 
ring the  times  therein  mentioned,  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof 
to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  historical  and  other 
prints."  THERON  RUDD, 

CJcrk  ofiht  Southern  District  of  Mw-York. 


Recommendation  from  his  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  the 

State  of  NetO'York.  RQ  R 

The  second  edition  of  a  voyage  round  the  world,  by  Ar- 
chibald Cam{)bell,  has  been  recently  published  in  New- 
York.  The  life  of  Campbell  has  been  marked  by  extraor- 
dinary sufferings ;  and  as  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  authenti- 
city of  the  work,  I  recommend  it  to  the  patronage  of  the 
public,  from  a  persuasion  that  the  merits  and  misfortunes  of 
the  narrator,  entitle  him  to  favorable  consideration. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Albany,  March  2d,  1820. 

New-York,  November  6th,  5819. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  Morton  Lodge,  No.  108,  (late 
No.  50,)  held  last  evening,  at  their  Lodge  room,  in  the  City 
of  New- York,  the  following  resolution  was  passed,  viz. 

''  Resolved,  that  from  the  long  acquaintance  which  we 
have  had  with  brother  Archibald  Campbell,  his  regular  de- 
portment while  sojourning  with  us,  has  induced  this  Lodge 
to  recommend  him,  and  they  do  recommend  him  to  the 
kind  protection  and  friendship  of  the  fraternity  generally." 

Extract  from  the  minutes. 

S.  W.  ANDREWS,  Secretary. 
DANIEL  SICKELS,  W.  M. 
JOHN  DEGEZ,  P.  M. 

We,  the  undersigned,  agree  with  the  report  of  the  officers 
of  Morton  Lodge,  No.  108,  (late  No.  50,)  with  respect  to 
the  deportment  of  brother  Archibald  Campbell,  and  re- 
commend him  accordingly. 

RICHARD  O.  PEARSALL,  W.  M.  Benevolent  Lodo:c. 
JOSEPH  FORRISTER,  P.  M.  Benevolent  Lodge. 
JAMES  S.  TAYLOR,  Secretary  Benevolent  Lodge. 
ALEXANDER  ERASER,  Treasurer  Benevolent^Lodge 
JAMES  LYON'S,  Jun.  P.  M   St.  Johns  Ao.  9,  laie  Xo.  6 
G.  LANSING,  P.  M.Phcenit  Lodge  Ao.  40,  late  Ao   11 
JAMES  WEBSTER,  W  M.  Mram's  Lodge,  Ko.  83. 
ROBERT  YOUNG,  P.  M.  Abrams  Lodge,  Xo.  83. 
S.  B.  FLEMING,  W.U.  Sl.Johns,A'o.9,latejXo  fS, 


CERTIFICATE 

By  the  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Perhifis, 

Archibald  Campbell,  the  author  of  a  "  Voyage  round  the 
World/'  made  oil  board  the  ship  Eclipse,  in  which  I  was 
interested,  having  applied  to  me  to  give  him  a  certificate  of 
the  fact  of  his  having  been  a  seaman  on  board  said  ship, 
I  readily  do  it. 

His  Book  contains  jnany  interesting  facts,  and  is  worthy 
the  perusal  of  persons  ^who  take  pleasure  in  booking  into 
works  of  this  kind.  His  misfortunes,  and  the  constant 
good  deportment  he  has  shewn  since  his  return  from  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  give  him  a  strong  claim  on  the  commu-? 
nity.  T.  H.  PERKINS. 

Boston,  July  4,  1821. 

*J^  The  original  documents  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Author. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Departure  from  England — Voyage  to  China — Trans- 
actions at  Canton — Author  enters  on  board  an  Arae- 
ricaa  ship — Passage  to  Kamschatka — Touches  at 
Japan — Transactions  there — Arrives  at  the  harbour 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul — Some  account  of  the 
Russian  settlement  at  that  place.  15 

CHAPTER  n. 

Departure  from  Kamschatka — Shipwrecked  on  a  reef 
of  rocks,  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America — Author 
with  the  rest  of  the  crew,  save  themselves  by  the  long 
boat — Are  drifted  on  an  island — Transactions  upon 
the  island — Prepare  to  build  a  vessel.  SO 

CHAPTER  m. 

Arrival  of  a  party  of  Natives,  and  of  the  Russian  Com- 
.   mandant  of  Oonalaska,  who  determines   to   send  to 
Kodiak  for  assistance — Long-boat  prepared   for  the 
voyage — Some  account  of  Sannack  or  Halibut  Island.     39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Sail  from  Sannack  in  the  long-boat — Touch  at  the  Isl- 
and of  Ungar—Distressing  state  of  the  settlement 

n 


6  COx\TENTS. 

there — Sail  from  thence — Anchor  at  the  village  of 
Schutkum — Departure  from,  it — Boat  nearly  embay- 
ed on  the  north  coast  ofKodiak — Arrived  at  Alexan^ 
dria — Transactions  there — Boat  fitted  out  to  return 
to  Sannack.  .'    '  47 

CHAPTER  V. 

Departure  from  Alexandria — Boat  forced  into  a  bay  by 
the  weather,  and  hauled  on  shore — Obliged,  by  want 
of  provisions,  to  leave  the  bay — A  snow  storm — The 
boat  springs  aleak — Is  run  on  shore,  and  goes  to 
pieces  upon  the  rocks — A  hut  discovered,  in  which 
the  crew  pass  the  night.  58 

CHAPTER  VI. 

A  party  quit  the  hut  in  search  of  a  settlement — Author's 
feet  frost-bitten — Progress  of  the  party  interrupted 
by  a  mountain — Return  towards  the  hut,  till  prevent- 
ed by  the  tide  from  passing  a  reef  of  rocks — Pass  the 
night  in  a  valley — Next  morning  set  off  at  low  wa- 
ter— Author  falls  behind,  and  in  attempting  to  climb 
over  a  rock,  gets  his  hands  frost-bitten — Critical  si- 
tuation— Reaches  the  hut — Two  Russians  reach  a 
settlement  by  the  mountains,  and  send  relief — Some 
account  of  Karlouski — Voyage  to  Alexandria.  65 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

Author  carried  to  hospital — Both  his  feet  amputated — 
Account  of  the  party  left  at  Sannack — Employed  in 


CONTENTS.^  7 

teaching  native  children  English — Account  of  Kodi- 
ak — Natives — Dress — Canoes — Superstition — Food 
— i^thor^ails  in  the  ship  Neva  for  the  Sandwich 
Islands.  •  71 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Voyage  tp  Sandwich  Islands — ]Make  Owhyhee — 
Touch  at  JMovvee — Proceed  to  Wahoo — Tamaah-, 
maah  and  other  chiefs  come  on  board — Author  re- 
sides three  months  with  the  King — Account  of  his 
mode  of  life — Remove  to  the  house  of  Isaac  Davis 
— Account  of  him — Death  of  Terremytee,  the 
King's  brother,  and  transactions  that  took  place  on 
that  occasion — Remarkable  water-spout — Author  re- 
ceives a  grant  of  land  from  the  King,  to  which  lie 
removes — Residence  there — Arriv^al  of  the  ship 
Duke  of  Portland — Anecdotes  of  the  King — De- 
parture from  the  Sandwich  Islands.  85 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Description  of  Wahoo — Extent — Whyteete-bay — Ac- 
count of  Tamaabmaah's  navy — Town  and  harbour 
of  Hanaroora — Bass's  harbour — Wymumme,  or 
Pearl-river — State  of  cultivation — Breed  of  cattle — 
Account  of  the  white  people  resident  on  the  island.    109 

CHAPTER  X. 

Account  of  the  natives — Personal  appearance — Ranks 
— Power  of  the  king —  Priests — Capital  punishments 


CONTENTS. 

— Mode  of  detecting  theft — Religious  belief — Places 
of  worship  and  ceremonies — JNIacaheite — Houses — 
Food — Ava — Spirit^  distilled  from  the  tee-root — 
State  of  the  women — Marriages — Dress — Manufac- 
tures— Nets  and  lines — Modes  of  fishing — Trade — 
Price  of  provisions — Amusements — Funeral  Rites — 
Military — Progress  in  civilization — Account  of  Ta- 
maahmaah  and  family.  121 


CHAPTER  XL 

Departure  from  Wahoo — Pass  Otaheite — Double  Cape 
Horn — Arrival  at  Rio  Janeiro — Transactions  there, 
during  a  residence  of  nearly  two  years — Voyage 
home — and  from  thence  to  the  United  States,  157 


APPEXDIX  No.  I 


APPENDIX  No.  11. 


165 


Statement  of  the  Case  of   Archibald  Campbell,  by  Dr.  Nord- 
goorst,  in  the  service  of  the  Russian  American  Company.         189 

APPENDIX  No.  III. 

Notice  of  Archibald  Campbell,  from  Blackwood's  Magazine.         195 

APPENDIX  No.  IV. 
Historical  Account  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  203 


AFPE.XDIX  No.  V. 
Notes.  211 


PREFACE. 


A  PERUSAL  of  the  voyages  of  discovery,  which  shed  so 
much  histre  on  the  reign  of  George  III.  naturally  excites  a 
strong  desire  to  learn  what  effects  have  been  produced 
among  the  nations  vvhose  existence  they  have  introduced 
to  our  notice. 

That  the  interests  of  science  and  commerce  have  been 
greatly  promoted  by  these  voyages,  cannot  be  doubted  5 
but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  result  has  been  equal- 
ly beneficial  to  the  natives  of  the  newly  discovered  coun- 
tries;  and,  as  the  editor*  of  Cook's  last  voyage  justly  re- 
marks, "  it  would  afiord  exquisite  pleasure  to  every  bene- 
volent mind,  to  be  instructed  in  facts  which  might  enable 
us  without  hesitation  to  answer  in  the  affirmative." 

The  solution  of  this  momentous  question  can  crily  be  ob- 
tained from  the  accounts  of  subsequem;  visitors  ;  and  the 
following  narrative  is  submitted  to  the  public,  as  a  contri- 
bution to  the  evidence  required  for  that  purpose.  It  was 
drawn  up  partly  from  the  papers,t  but  chiefly  from  the 
recital  of  the  author  ;  and  the  editor  has  adhered  as  closely 
as  the  nature  of  the  case  would  permit,  to  the  language  in 
which  they  were  originally  related. ,  The  intervention  of 
a  third  pex"son  between  the  traveller  and  the  reacler,  is  an 

*  Dr.  Douglas,  Bishop  of  Salisbury. 

t  For  some  account  of  tliese  papers,  see  Note  A, 


10  PREFACE. 

evil  which  ought  always,  if  possible,  to  be  avoided ;  but 
in  the  present  instance,  some  literary  assistance  was  ab- 
solutely necessary  ;  and  the  editor  conceives  he  shal?  best 
have  executed  the  task  he  has  imposed  upon  himself,  by 
stating,  with  strict  fidelity,  and  in  the  simplest  language, 
the  facts  as  they  were  related  to  him. 

A  short  account  of  the  life  of  the  narrator  will  enable 
the  reader  to  judge  of  the  necessity  of  such  assistance,  as 
well  as  of  his  qualifications  to  relate  the  incidents  of  his 
voyage. 

Archibald  Campbell  was  born  at  Wynford,near  Glas- 
gow, on  the  19th  of  July,  1787.  His  father,  who  was  a 
soldier  in  the  4oth  regiment,  died  at  St.  Lucia,  upon  which 
his  mother  removed  to  Paisley,  her  native  place,  when  her 
son  was  about  four  years  of  age.  He  there  received  the 
common  rudiments  of  education,  and  at  the  age  of  ten  was 
bound  apprentice  to  a  weaver.  Before  the  term  of  his  ap- 
prenticeship had  expired,  however,  a  strong  desire  to  visit 
remote  countries  induced  him  to  go  to  sea;  and  in  the  year 
1800,  he  entered  as  apprentice  on  board  the  ship  Isabella, 
of  Port-Glasgow,  commanded  by  Mr.  Hugh  Paterson.  In 
this  vessel  he  made  three  voyages  to  the  West-Indies.  He 
afterwards  served  about  a  twelvemonth  in  a  coaster ;  and, 
in  1804,  again  sailed  for  the  West-Indies,  in  the  sloop  Ro- 
bina,  belonging  to  the  same  port. 

At  Madeira  he  was  pressed  on  board  the  Diana  frigate, 
and  remained  in  that  ship  till  her  arrival  at  Portsmouth  in 
1806.  He  there  found  means  to  make  his  escape,  and  en- 
tered as  seaman  on  board  the  Thames  Indiaman. 

The  history  of  the  six  most  eventful  years  of  his  life 
will  be  found  in  the  following  pages.  He  returned  to  his 
native  country,  in  April.  1812,  having  lost  both  his  feet; 


PREFACE.  11 

and  from  the  unskilful  manner  in  which  amputation  has 
been  nerformed,  the  wouncfs  have  never  healed. 

A  gentleman  in  Rio  Janeiro,  of  the  name  of  Lawrie, 
Kad  furnished  him  with  letters  to  his  father  in  Edinburgh, 
by  whose  interest  he  obtained  admission  into  the  Infirmary 
in  that  city ;  but  after  remaining  there  nearly  four  months, 
he  was  dismissed  as  incurable. 

Mr.  Lawrie,  senior,  presented  him  with  a  barrel  organ  ; 
and  he  contrived  to  earn  a  miserable  pittance,  by  crawling 
about  the  streets  of  Edinburgh  and  Leith,  grinding  music, 
and  selling  a  metrical  history  of  his  adventures. 

Being  ambitious,  however,  of  performing  on  a  more  dig- 
nified instrument,  he  has  since  learned  to  play  on  the  vio- 
lin 5  and  he  finds  employment  on  board  the  steam-boats 
that  ply  upon  the  river  Clyde,  by  playing  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  steerage  passengers. 

In  one  of  these  vessels  his  appearance  attracted  the  no- 
tice of  the  editor ;  and  the  answers  he  gave  to  some  ques- 
tions excited  so  much  curiosity,  that  he  took  him  home 
with  the  intention  of  making  a  few  memoranda  of  his  story 
for  his  own  information. 

The  modest  and  intelligent  manner  in  which  it  was  told, 
the  interesting  nature  of  the  incidents,  and  the  curious  in- 
formation it  contained,  on  the  subjects  to  which  the  atten- 
tion of  the  editor  had  been  much  directed,  created  a  strong 
interest  on  behalf  of  the  narrator ;  and  the  hope  that  an 
account  of  his  voyage  might  be  of  service  to  an  unfortunate 
and  deserving  man,  and  not  unacceptable  to  those  who 
take  pleasure  in  contemplating  the  progress  of  mankind  in 
the  arts  of  civilization,  gave  rise  to  the  present  publication. 

In  the  execution  of  his  task,  simplicity  and  perspicuity 
are  all  that  the  editor  has  aimed  at.     The  ornaments  of 


12  PREFACE. 

style,  which  ale  generally  misplaced  in  such  relations,, 
would  have  been  peculiarly  incongruous  in  the  mouth  of  a 
common  sailor.  In  those  parts  of  the  work  which  relate 
to  places  already  well  known,  the  narrative  is  entirely  con- 
fined to  the  personal  adventures  of  the  author ;  and  had 
the  editor  been  aware  that  so  much  had  been  recently  writ- 
ten regarding  Kamschatka  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  by  the 
Russian  navigators,  the  description  of  those  places  woutd 
have  been  either  altogether  omitted,  or  much  more  con- 
densed; but,  in  fact,  he  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing 
their  voyages  till  the  work  was  sent  to  the  press,  and  it  was 
not  then  considered  necessary  to  make  any  alteration  in 
the  text. 

The  importance  of  the  subject  will  account  for  the  dis- 
proportion of  that  part  which  relates  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands  to  the  rest  of  the  work.  From  the  advantages  they 
owe  to  their  situation,  placed  midway  between  the  conti- 
nents of  Asia  and  America  ;  from  the  fertility  of  the  soil, 
and  the  natural  talents  and  industry  of  the  natives,  they 
promise  to  become  by  far  the  most  important  of  the  re- 
cently discovered  islands*  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Scarcely  thirty  years  have  elapsed  from  the  period  of 
their  discovery,  yet  how  wonderful  the  change  !t     Their 

*  The  concluding  sentence  in  Captain  Cook's  journal  affords  a 
«triking  proof  of  the  high  value  he  attached  to  "  a  discovery, 
which,  though  the  last,  seemed  in  many  respects  the  most  important 
of  any  that  had  hitherto  been  made  by  Europeans  throughout  the 
•xtent  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

f  A  short  historical  account  of  the  revolutions  that  have  taken 
place  in  the  Sandwich  Island*,  from  their  discoveiv  in  1779,  till  the 
arrival  of  the  author  in  ISW,  collected  from  the  voyages  of  Cook, 
Meares,  Portlocke,  Vancouver,  Broughton,  Turnbull,  and  Lisianski, 
ffill  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  ^'o.  IV. 


PREFACE.  13 

king  is  surrounded  by  workmen  of  ■«very  description,  na- 
j,  tive  and  European  ;  his  guards  are  regularly  trained  to  the 
use  of  fire  arms ;  and  he  possesses  a  navy  of  nearly  sixty 
sail  of  decked  vessels,  built  upon  the  islands  j  whilst  almost 
'  every  ship  which  navigates  the  Pacific,  finds  shelter,  provi- 
sions, or  tra^e,  in  his  harbors. 

In  Tam'aahmaah  these  islander*  possess  one  of  those 
.  renjarkable  characters,  who,  like  Alfred  or  Peter  the  Great, 
seems  destined  to  hasten  the  progress  of  civilization.  He 
is  known  in  this  country  from  the  accounts  of  Turnbull, 
Lisianski,  and  Langsdorf ;  but  as  none  of  these  navigators 
ever  saw  that  chief,  their  accounts  are  consequently  very 
imperfect  5  the  length  of  time,  however,  during  which  our 
author  remained  in  his  family,  afforded  him  opportunities 
of  observation  not  enjoyed  by  those  of  higher  qualifica- 
tions, and  in  some  measure  compensates  for  the  unavoidable 
defects  of  his  education. 

Although  no  new  discoveries,  strictly  speaking,  are  re- 
corded, the  work  will  not  be  found  altogether  destitute  of 
useful  nautical  information  ;  the  account  of  the  reef  to  the 
southwest  of  Halibut  Island^  upon  which  the  ship  was 
wrecked,  and  the  numerous  rocks  that  lie  near  the  coast 
of  Aliaski,  will  show  what  ought  to  be  avoided  ;  and  in 
the  account  of  the  south  coast  of  Wahoo,  will  be  found  a 
description  of  the  only  harbours  in  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

From  the  humble  situation  held  by  the  author,  a  distrust 
may  be  entertained  of  his  qualifications  to  relate  the  facts 
which  fell  under  his  notice ;  but  few,  in  the  same  ranks  of 
life,  are  possessed  of  more  intelligence  or  information ; 
with  the  advantages  common  to  his  countrymen,  he  seems 
to  have  neglected  no  means  of  improvement.     It  will  be 

seen  that  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  appointed  a  petty 

2 


14  PREFACE. 

officer,  and  had  he  tiut  been  incapacitated  by  h-s  misfor- 
tune, it  may  be  presumed,  that  he  would  soon  have  c^aained. 
a  higher  rank.  ^^ 

The  editor  has  to  claim  indulgence  on  his  own  account. 
His  motives  for  undertaking  the  work,  and  the  principles 
upon  which  it  has  been  executed,  have  been  already  stated  ; 
the  work  is  published  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  fellow 
who  is  the  subject  of  it ;  nor  would  it  ever  have  met  the 
public  eye,  had  there  been  any  chance  that  the  task  would 
have  been  undertaken  by  another  hand  But  to  rescue 
much  of  what  is  true  and  extraordinary  from  the  oblivion 
to  which  the  obscure  condition  and  limited  powers  of  the 
narrator  would  have  condemned  it,  appeared  to  him  well 
■deserving  of  the  labour  which  he  had  bestowed.  The  best 
apology  for  the  appearance  of  the  work  itself  will  be  found 
in  the  words  of  a  celebrated  periodical  publication.*  "  It 
is  obvious  that  the  discovery  of  new  tribes,  and  the  first 
account  of  manners  formerly  unknown,  are  by  no  means 
more  interesting  than  the  subsequent  history  of  those  tribes, 
and  the  changes  which  rapidly  take  place  in  their  manners. 
The  greatest  obligations,  therefore,  are  conferred  upon  us 
by  those  adventurous  persons  who,  having  visited  these 
islands  of  late  years,  give  such  statements  of  what  they 
saw,  as  enable  us  to  trace  the  progress  of  society  in  one 
of  its  earliest  stages,  and  to  estimate  the  effects  produced 
by  the  sudden  revolution  in  their  circumstances  which  the 
natives  have  experienced  from  their  intercourse  with  Eu- 
ropeans." 

JAMES  SiMlTH. 

Jordonhill,  May^  181 6. 

*  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  IX.  p.  332. 


r* 


rOVAGE 


CHAPTER  I. 

Departure  from  England — Voyage  to  China — Transactions  at  Can^ 
ton — Author  enters  on  board  an  American  ship — Passage  to  Kam- 
schatka — Touches  at  Japan — Transactions  there — Arrives  at  the 
harbour  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul — Some  account  of  the  Russian 
settlement  in  that  place. 

Early  in  May,  1806,  I  entered  as  seaman 
on  board  the  Thames  Indiaman,  Matthew 
Riches,  Esq.  commander,  on  a  voyage  to 
China. 

We  sailed  on  the  14th  of  that  month  from 
Motherbank,  in  company  with  the  Arniston, 
Royal  Charlotte,  Glatton,  Marquis  of  Ely, 
Marquis  of  Wellesley,  Monarch,  Cirencester, 
and  Neptune,  Indiamen,  under  convoy  of  the 
Lion,  64,  and  Medusa  frigate  ;  we  were  also 
accompanied  by  a  fleet  of  transports,  with 
troops,  destined  for  the  expedition  to  Buenos 
Ayres. . 


16     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

In  our  voyagQ,,to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
no  incident  occurred  worthy  of  being  record- 
ed, not  even  the  ordinary  ceremonies  upon 
crossing  the  line.  We  had  a  detachment  of  the 
30th  regiment  on  board,  the  commanding  offi- 
cer of  which  did  not  choose  that  the  men  should 
undergo  die  ducking  usual  upon  that  occasion. 
About  this  time  I  w  as  appointed  sail-maker's 
mate. 

We  arrived  at  the  Cape  on  the  7th  of  August, 
and  remained  there  15  days, 

We  sailed  from  thence  on  the  22d  ;  and  on 
the  day  after  our  departure,  encountered  a  se- 
vere gale  of  wind.  It  came  on  so  suddenly 
that  we  had  only  time  to  take  in  our  studding 
sails  ;  all  the  others,  except  the  fore  and  fore- 
top  gallant  sails,  were  blown  out  of  the  bolt 
ropes ;  the  ship  was  running  before  the  wind, 
and  broached  to  several  times  ;  fortunately, 
however,  we  suffered  no  other  damage  than 
the  loss  of  the  sails.  We  experienced  two 
other  gales  whilst  in  the  Indian  seas,  but,  be- 
ing better  prepared,  met  with  no  material  ac- 
cident. 

On  the  12th  of  September  we  saw  the 
island  of  St.  Paul,  and  arrived  at  Pulo  Fenang, 
or  Rvince  of  Wales'  Island,  about  the  middle 
of  October. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WOULD.  17 

'  We  proceeded  on  our  voyage  for  China  on 
the  24th  of  November,  and  anchored  at  Wam- 
poa  on  the  18th  of  January,  1807. 

Having  rem^.lned  there  nearly  six  weeks, 
and  taken  iti  about  half  of  our  cargo,  an  un- 
fortunate dispute  took  place  between  the 
crew  of  the  Neptune  and  some  Chinese,  in 
which  one  of  the  latter  lost  his  life.  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  the  government  insisted 
that  a  man  should  be  given  up  in  his  place, 
and  stopped  the  loading  of  the  ships  to  en- 
force compliance  with  this  demand,  threat- 
ening, at  the  same  time,  to  prevent  their  de- 
parture by  choking  up  the  second  bar.*  As 
a  measure  of  precaution  the  ships  dropped 
down  the  river  below  the  bar,  and  a  boat 
was  despatched  to  Canton  to  wait  the  orders 
of  the  commodore. 

I  was  sent  in  the  cutter  on  this  service ; 
and  during  the  time  of  our  stay  in  that  city, 
the  captain  of  the  American  ship  Arthur, 
bound  to  Rhode-Island,  endeavored  to  in- 
duce me  to  quit  the  ship  I  belonged  to,  by 
offering  high  wages,  and  a  bounty  of  twenty 
dollars;  I,  however,  declined  his  proposals. 
Afterwards,  when  I  was  in  company  with  a 

^  For  an  account  of  the  dispute,  see  Appendix,  No.  IV.  Note  B. 


IS  VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

comrade  of  the  name  of  Allen,  we  were  mcl 
by  another  American  captaip,  who  also  tried 
to  persuade  us,  by  offering  still  higher  wa- 
ges; we  resisted  his  offers,  till  he  informed 
us  that  his  ship  was  bound  for  the  South 
Seas  and  the  north  west  coast  of  America. — 
It  had  always  been  my  ambition  to  visit 
tliose  distant  parts  of  the  world,  and  the 
opportunity  that  now  piesented  itself  was 
too  tempting  to  be  resisted.  We  agreed  to 
liis  terms ;  and  as  his  ship  lay  at  Wampoa, 
lie  concealed  us  in  the  American  factory  till 
an  opportunity  of  proceeding  thither  should 
occur. 

Whilst  at  tliis  place,  we  very  narrowly 
escaped  detection.  Being  in  want  of  pro- 
visions, we  sent  out  a  Chinese  to  buy  some 
bread,  and  gave  him  a  dollar  stampted  wdth 
Captain  Riclies'  initials.  Instead  of  fulfill- 
ing his  commission,  he  took  the  dollar  to 
the  captain,  and  brought  him  to  the  factory. 
When  we  saw  them  approach,  we  made 
our  escape  from  a  window  to  the  top  of  an 
adjoining  house,  and  ran  along  the  roofs, 
till  we  reached  a  warehouse,  which  we 
asked  permission  to  pass  through;  this  the 
owner  refusing,  I   went  out  on  a  beam  that 


VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD.  19 

crossed  the  street,  and  dropped  on  the  ground, 
being  a  fall  of  about  eighteen  feet. — When 
the  Chinese  '  observed  this,  he  allowed  my 
comrade  to  pass  through  the  house.  I  was  a 
good  deal  stunned  with  the  fall,  but  soon  re- 
covered myself  We  then  got  to  the  river 
•de,  where  vve  hired  a  san-pan,  or  small  boat, 
to  take  us  to  Wampoa,  and  reached  the  ship 
with  no  other  interruption. 

She  w^as  called  the  Eclipse,  and  belonged 
to  Boston  ;  a  new  ship,  on  her  first  voyage, 
commanded  by  Captain  Joseph  O'Kean.  She 
was  chartered  by  the  Russian  American  Com- 
pany, for  their  settlements  at  Kamschatka, 
and  the  northwest  coast  of  x4merica,  with  a 
cargo  of  nankeens,  tea,  silks,  sugar,  rice,  and 
other  articles,  the  produce  of  China.  The 
number  of  the  crew,  including  officers,  amount- 
ed to  twenty-eight,  four  or  five  of  which  were 
procured  from  the  Indiamen.  There  was  also 
a  Russian  supercargo. 

At  Captain  O'Cain's  desire  I  changed  my 
name,  which  I  entered  on  the  ship's  books  as 
Archibald  Macbride. 

Having  completed  our  cargo,  the  ship  sail- 
ed on  her  voyage  upon  the  eighth  of  May. — 
When  opposite  to    Macao,  we  saw  the   In- 


20     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

dian  fleet  getting  under  way;  the  Captain, 
fearing  that  the  man-of-war  might  board  us, 
and  take  the  men  belonging  to  the  India  ships, 
put  back,  and  remained  within  the  Bocca  Ti- 
gris till  they  were  out  of  sight. 

On  the  6th  of  June  we  descried  the  coast 
of  Japan,  and  ran  along  shore  till  we  rea(^jp* 
ed  the  bay  of  Nangasaki. 

We  stood  into  the  bay  under  Russian  co- 
lors, and  were  met  by  an  immense  fleet  of 
boats,  who  took  possession  of  the  ship,  and 
towed  her  to  the  anchorage.  When  about 
half  way  up  the  bay,  the  Dutch  ambassador 
came  off.  He  could  speak  English ;  and 
finding  we  were  Americans,  advised  us  to 
haul  down  the  colors,  informing  us  that  the 
natives  were  much  exasperated  at  some  out- 
rages lately  committed  by  the  Russians  upon 
their  islands.  We  found  this  to  be  so  much 
the  case,  that  we  deemded  it  prudent  to  keep 
the  supercargo  out  of  sight  during  the  whole 
of  our  stay.* 

^  It  appears  from  Dr  Langsdorfs  Voyage,  that  the  amour  propn 
of  the  Russian  ambassador,  Von  Resanoff,  was  so  much  mortified 
by  his  reception  at  Japan,  that  he  despatched  in  October,  1806,  an 
expedition  against  the  most  southern  of  the  Kurile  islands,  where 
the  Japanese  have  settlements.  A  second  expedition  was  underta- 
ken in  May,  1807.— Firfe  Langsdorfs  Vol  II.  p.  298. 


yOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  21 

When  the  ship  was  moored,  eight  guard- 
boats  were  anchored  round  us,  within  pistol- 
shot,  and  no  person  allowed  to  land  or  hold 
any  communication  with  the  shore ;  the  mus- 
kets were  taken  out  of  the  arm-chests,  and  our 
gunpowder  demanded  ;  six  or  eight  kegs  were 
given  up,  with  the  assurance  that  it  was  all  we 
h^.         ^' 

Seeing  so  many  boats  come  off,  a  large  as- 
sortment of  articles  of  trade  was  brought  on 
deck,  but  none  of  the  people  would  make  any 
purchase.  They  told  us  they  had  plenty  of 
every  thing  we  had  to  offer. 

When  the  captain  wr.s  asked  what  brought 
him  to  Japan,  he  replied,  want  of  water  and 
fresh  provisions ;  and  ordered  several  butts 
in  the  hold  to  be  started  and  hoisted  on  deck 
empty.  Next  day  a  plentiful  supply  w  as  sent 
oif,  in  small  boats,  filled  with  water,  and  in 
tubs,  which  we  were  obliged  to  empty  on 
deck,  stopping  the  scuppers,  and  allowing  it 
to  run  off  at  night.  We  w  ere  also  abundantly 
supplied  with  fresh  fish,  hogs,  and  vegetables  ; 
the  whole  of  which  was  furnished  gratis. 

On  the  third  day  of  our  stay,  the  Captain, 
finding  nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  remain- 


22     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ing,  got  under  way.  The  arms  and  amntii- 
nition  were  immediately  restored,  and  the 
ship  w^as  towed  about  five  miles  out  of  the 
bay,  by  nearly  a  hundred  boats ;  on  parting 
the  crews  cheered  us,  waving  their  hats  and 
hands.  .^: 

The  town  of  Nangasaki  was  concealed  by^ 
an  island ;  but  from  the  view  we  had  of  the 
land,  it  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of  high  culti- 
vation, and  very  populous.  The  natives  have 
the  appearance  and  complexion  of  the  Chinese, 
but  are  taller  in  stature. 

Their  boats,  which  were  open,  with  small 
covered  cabins  abaft,  were  mounted  with 
p;uns,  about  the  size  of  our  largest  swivels. 
Instead  of  being  rovv^ed  they  w  ere  sculled  ; 
the  oars  on  each  side  never  being  lifted  out 
of  the  wearer.  In  each  of  them  were  two 
men,  apparently  officers,  dressed  in  loose 
frocks  or  gowns,  with  long  hanging  sleeves. 
These  were  armed  with  matchlocks,  and  had 
a  sabre  hanging  at  each  side. 

After  leaving  Nangasaki,  we  navigated  the 
strait  which  separates  the  principal  island 
of  Japan  from  others  that  lie  to  the  north  : 
in  several  places  it  is  not  above  five  miles 
broad.     On  each  side  the  countrv  is  beauti- 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  23 

fu!,  abounding  with  cultivated  fields,  woods, 
villages,  and  sino^le  houses.  Frequently,  when 
neai*  the  coast,  we  observed  the  inhabitants 
come  down  to  the  shore,  and  make  signals,  as 
if  to  invite  us  to  land  ;  but,  after  the  reception 
\^.  we  had  already  experienced,  the  captain  did 
not  choose  to  have  any  further  communica- 
tion with  the  Japanese.* 

At  one  time,  in  a  thick  fog,  we  were  alarm- 
ed with  the  noise  of  breakers,  apparently  very 
near.  Upon  sounding,  we  found  twenty  fa- 
thoms, sandy  bottom,  and  immediately  let  go 
the  anchor.  When  the  haze  cleared  away,  we 
found  ourselves  close  to  a  remarkable  island 
or  rock,  about  the  size  and  the  height  of  the 
craig  of  Ailsea,  in  the  Frith  of  Clyde.  An 
archway  passed  completely  through  it ;  and 
into  this  the  sea  rushed  with  that  tremendous 
noise  which  had  occasioned  our  late  alarm. 

In  about  a  week  we  were  clear  of  the  strait, 
and  proceeded  on  our  voyage. 

^  Those  friendly  invitations  seem  to  be  somewhat  inconsistent 
with  the  inhospitable  character  of  the  Japanese.  It  is  most  likely^ 
however,  that  the  author  is  mistaken  in  the  nature  of  the  signals 
they  made,  which  were  more  probably  those  of  reproach  than 
kindness,  similar  to  those  captain  Saris  was  assailed  with — '*  Core, 
core  cocori  ware," — "you  Coreans,  with  false  hearts." 

Vide  quarttrhjRtvki':,  VolIV.p.T,9. 


e4     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

The  4th  of  July,  being  the  anniversary  of 
Vmei'ican  Independence,  was  celebrated  by 
I  salute.  One  of  the  guns  having  missed  fii-e, 
the  captain  took  the  powder-horn  to  prime  it ; 
in  doing  which  some  fire  in  the  gun  kindled 
the  powder,  and  exploded  the  horn.  By  this 
accident  his  hand  was  dreadfully  scorched  and 
lacerated. 

Upon  the  6th  we  descried  the  two  lofty 
mountains  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  in  Kam- 
schatka. 

Owing  to  foggy  weather,  it  was  two  days 
before  we  discovered  the  entrance  of  Awat- 
ska  bay.  We  were  within  the  heads  on  the 
8th,  and  were  met  by  a  Russian  boat,  on 
board  of  which  was  Mr.  Meznikoff,  com- 
missioner of  the  store,  who  piloted  us  into 
the  harbour  of  Petrapaulouska,  or  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul.  The  ship  having  been  seen 
off  the  coast,  intelligence  had  been  given  of 
our  arrival  by  people  stationed  for  the  purpose 
at  a  light-house  on  the  north  side  of  the 
entrance. 

Awatska  bay  is  a  spacious  basin,  25  or  30 
miles  in  circumference  ;  any  part  of  it  w^ould 
afford  safe  anchorage,  but  it  has  three  very 
fine  harbours.     That  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     $5 

where  we  lay,  is  sheltered  from  every  wind 
by  a  projecting  woody  point ;  but,  owing  to 
the  great  height  of  the  mountains  is  subject 
to  heavy  squalls. 

The  entrance  to  the  bay  is  not  above  a 
mile  and  a  half  wide,  and  may  be  known  by 
several  remarkable  rocks  on  the  starboard 
hand  going  in,  somewhat  like  the  needles  at 
the  Isle  of  Wight. 

We  remained  at  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul 
thirty-three  days,  and  discharged  nearly  one 
tjiird  of  our  cargo. 

The  town,  although  the  principal  sea-port 
of  the  Peninsula  of  Kamschatka,  is  nothing 
more  than  a  miserable  village,  containing 
300  or  400  inhabitants,  of  whom  about  two- 
thirds  are  Russians  and  the  remainder  na- 
tives. It  is  situated  on  an  eminence  above 
the  harbour,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
governor's  house,  consists  of  huts  of  one  story 
high,  built  of  Jogs  and  covered  with  thatch. 
In  a  few  of  them  the  windows  are  glazed  with 
talc,  but  more  generally  the  intestine  of  the 
seal  supplies  the  place  of  glass. 

The  huts    of  the    natives  lie   below  the 

town  towards  the  shore.     They  are  almost 

wholly  under  ground,  nothing  but  the  roof 
3 


26    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD- 

being  seen,  which  is  long  and  rounded  at  the 
top,  resembling  a  vessel  with  the  bottom  up- 
wards. 

On  a  rising  ground  on  the  north  side  of  the 
harbour,  near  the  governor's  house,  stands  an 
obehsk,  erected  to  the  memory  of  Captain 
CJerke,  the  coadjutor  of  Captain  Cook,  who 
died  at  sea,  and  was  buried  at  this  place.  The 
monument  is  about  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet 
high,  built  of  hewn  stone,  with  a  ship  on  the 
top;  there  were  inscriptions  on  each  side, 
which  were  much  defaced  by  the  weather; 
and  owing  to  the  rail  which  surrounded  the 
place,  we  could  not  get  near  enough  to  ascer- 
tain in  what  language  they  were  written  * 

The  natives  are  stout  made,  round-faced, 
with  a  yellowish  complexion.  The  men  are 
dressed  in  skin  frocks ;  the  women  in  a  si- 
milar dress  made  of  nankeen. 

The  countiy  round  is  perfectly  barren,  and 
no  cultivation  of  any  kind  is  to  be  seen,  except 
one  or  two  gardens  near  the  town. 


*  The  inscriptions  will  be  found  in  Captain  Krusenstern's  Voyage. 
The  Monument  was  erected  by  the  officers  of  his  ship,  the  Na- 
deshda,  near  the  tree  where  Captain  Gierke  was  buried. 

Krusemtern,  Vol  II.  p.  203 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     27 

They  have  a  few  horses  and  horned  cattle ; 
but  these  are  so  scarce,  that  the  fresh  beef  we 
required  was  brought  from  Bohcheresk,  a  dis- 
tance of  seventy  miles. 

On  the  right  hand  entrance  of  the  bay,  and 
round  by  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  the  country 
is  covered  with  wood,  chiefly  pines. 

The  town  and  its  neighbourhood  are  infest- 
ed with  an  immense  number  of  the  dogs  used 
for  sledges  in  winter.  At  this  season,  they  are 
allowed  to  go  at  large  and  find  food  for  them- 
selves. They  live  almost  entirely  upon  fish, 
which  they  obtain  either  by  springing  upon 
them  as  they  lie  in  the  water,  or  picking  them 
up  dead  along  the  shore.  In  winter,  they  are 
fed  upon  dried  fish,  which  are  cured  in  large 
open  sheds  erected  for  that  purpose  on  the 
shore,  and  which,  it  would  appear,  they  pre- 
fer to  any  other  food.  Our  sailors,  by  way  of 
amusement,  often  purloined  a  {ew  to  give  to 
the  dogs ;  in  consequence  of  which  kindness, 
thousands  of  these  hungry  creatures  watched 
the  landing  of  our  boat,  and  flocked  after  us, 
to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  inhabitants. — 
This  practice  became  at  last  so  troublesome, 
that  the  Russians  insisted  on  our  putting  an 
end  to  it.     Their  howling  every  morning  at 


28     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

day-break,  was  so  intolerable,  as  to  awaken 
us  even  on  board  the  ship. 

Boltcheresk,  the  capital  of  Kamschatka,  is 
about  seventy  miles  from  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul.  The  communication  in  the  winter 
season  is  by  sledges  drawn  by  dogs  over  the 
snow  ;  in  summer  the  intercourse  is  earned  on 
by  the  river  Awatska,  which  being  in  some 
places  extremely  shallovi%  boats  of  a  particular 
construction  are  made  use  of.  They  are  form- 
ed of  light  frames  of  wood,  covered  with 
tarpaulin,  and  are  so  flat  in  the  bottom  that 
they  do  not  draw  above  six  inches  water ; 
they  are  extremely  light,  and  can  easily  be 
carried  over  the  rapids. 

The  two  remarkable  mountains,  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul,  which  give  name  to  the  place, 
lie  about  thirty  miles  to  the  north.  One  ol 
them  is  a  volcano ;  and  w  hen  v^e  could  see 
the  top,  w  hicli  w  as  seldom  free  from  clouds, 
it  was  constantly  smoking,  and  at  night  sparks 
were  frequently  to  be  seen.  An  eruption  took 
place  some  time  before  our  arrival,  by  which 
the  whole  town  was  covered  with  ashes. 

There  were  no  vessels  at  this  place  during 
our  stay,  except  the  wreck  of  a  ship  which 
had  sunk  in  the  harbour;   the  sails  having 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     29 

been  loosed  for  the  purpose  of  drying,  a  sud- 
den squall  laid  her  on  her  beam-ends,  when 
.she  filled  and  went  down.*  As  the  upper 
works  were  above  the  surface  at  low  water, 
it  appeared  to  us  that  she  might  have  been 
raised  without  much  difficulty ;  but  it  seems 
they  did  not  mean  to  make  the  attempt,  for 
her  cordage  and  anchors  were  put  on  board 
our  vessel. 

Whilst  we  remained  here  we  were  abun- 
dantly supplied  with  the  finest  salmon,  and 
fish  of  all  descriptions. 

Having  delivered  the  part  of  our  cargo 
which  was  to  be  left  at  this  place,  we  sailed 
on  the  8th  of  August  for  the  settlements  on 
the  Aleutian  Islands. 


*  It  appears  from  Captain  Krusenstero's  voyage,  that  tliis  Vas 
the  Slawa  Rossii,  the  ship  commanded  by  Captain  Billing,  and 
afterwards  by  Admiral  Sarytscheff. 

Kruitnstim,  Vol.  II.  page  29 


3^ 


30  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 


CHAPTKR  II. 

Departure  from  Kamschatka — Shipwrecked  on  a  reef  of 
rocks,  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America — Author,  with 
the  rest  of  the  crew,  save  themselves  by  the  long  boat — 
Are  drifted  on  an  island — Transactions  upon  the  island 
— Prepare  to  build  a  vessel. 

We  left  Kamschatka  on  the  8th  of  August, 
and  proceeded  on  our  voyage  to  the  north- 
west coast  of  America.  Nothing  material 
occurred  till  the  10th  of  September.  On 
the  morning  of  that  day  it  blew  hard  from 
the  south,  and  the  ship  was  reduced  to  close 
reefed  topsails ;  about  three  in  the  afternoon, 
the  gale  increased  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
became  necessary  to  take  in  the  fore  and 
mizen  topsails.  Whilst  the  men  w^re  on  the 
yards,  they  discovered  land  off  the  lee  bow, 
distant  about  five  or  six  leagues ;  we  con- 
jectured it  to  be  that  part  ol  the  continent 
called  Aliaska ;  the  ship's  course  was  imme- 
diately altered  from  N.  E.  to  E.  and  the  wea- 
ther proving  more  moderate  in  the  even- 
ing, stood  on.  close  hauled,  but  did  not 
set  more  sail.  About  ten  at  night,  the  alarm 
was  given  that  there  were  breakers  ahead. 


voyage: :a<>Ml)  THE  WORLD.  si 

and  on  the  lee  bpvr..  Mr.  Brinkman,  the 
chief  mate,  who  haid  the  charge  of  the  watch, 
immediately  went  to  the  mizen  topmast  head, 
and  observing  there  was  room  to  wear  the 
ship,  hastened  below  to  report  the  circum- 
stance to  the  captain.  When  he  returned 
upon  deck,  he  instantly  went  to  the  wheel 
and  ordered  us  to  our  stations,  with  the  in- 
tention of  wearing  ;  but  the  captain,  who 
followed  him,  was  of  a  different  opinion  ;  he 
said  what  we  saw  w^as  only  white  water,  and 
not  breakers  ;  that  there  w  as  no  danger,  and 
ordered  us  to  stand  on  our  course.  He  had 
scarcely  given  this  order  before  the  ship 
plunged,  and  struck  with  such  violence  as 
to  knock  away  the  fore-foot,  and  the  watch 
below  were  driven  from  their  hammocks 
against  the  deck.  The  sea  running  very 
high,  she  beat  so  hard  that  in  a  few  minutes 
the  rudder  was  unshipped,  and  the  stern- 
post  forced  up  through  the  poop  ;  as  she 
still  had  way  upon  her,  she  shot  over  the  reef 
into  deep  water  :  upon  sounding  we  found  se- 
venteen fathoms.  It  was  immediately  deter- 
mined to  let  go  the  anchor,  and  remain  by  the 
ship  as  long  as  she  would  swim.  In  case  she 
went  down,  we  hoped  to  save  our  lives  by  the 


32  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

lono!;-boat,  which  was  accordingly  elegred  and 
hoisted  out,  that  she  might  be  ready ;  seven  of 
the  guns  were  at  the  same  time  thrown  -over- 
board, in  order  to  keep  her  above  water  until 
daylight.  The  carpenter  attempted  to  sound 
the  well,  but  owing  to  some  obstacle,  could  not 
get  down  the  sounding  rod.  I  was  sent  below 
with  him  to  bore  a  hole  beside  the  pump  thro' 
the  lower  deck  ;  but  on  taking  off  the  after 
hatch,  we  found  the  water  as  high  as  the  shift- 
ing boards. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  11th,  to  our 
great  joy,  we  saw  land  to  the  leeward  of  us, 
distant  about  three  or  four  leagues.  It  was  im- 
mediately determined  to  watch  the  lull,  slip  the 
cable,  and  cast  the  ship's  head  in  shore,  and 
steer  her  for  it  with  the  jib  and  fore-topsail. — 
After  she  was  under  way,  the  captain  ordered 
that  any  of  the  crew  that  could  not  swim  should 
go  into  the  long-boat  astern,  and  be  ready  as 
soon  as  she  struck  to  come  alongside  for  tlie 
rest,  as  he  expected  that  she  would  then  go  to 
pieces.  As  soon  as  she  struck,  all  hands  came 
into  the  boat,  and  went  for  the  shore,  the  cap- 
tain taking  his  quadrant,  until  the  tide  should 
ebb,  when  be  expected  she  would  be  nearly 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD;     53 

dry.     We  jainded  between  eleven  and  twelve 
o'clock  m  tlie  forenoon. 

The  land  upon  which  we  were  thrown  pre- 
sented a  most  dreary  appearance ;  it  was  an 
extensive  plain,  intersected  by  pools  of  fresh 
water,  stretching  about  five  miles  from  the  sea, 
and  terminated  by  two  mountains.  The 
ground  was  covered  with  heath  and  moss  ;  not 
a  tree  nor  a  bush  could  be  seen,  neither  did 
we  observe  the  least  trace  of  human  habita- 
tions. As  the  land  afforded  us  no  sustenance, 
we  turned  our  attention  to  the  sea,  and  when 
the  tide  ebbed  found  some  large  muscles. — 
Having  satisfied  our  hunger  with  some  raw 
muscles,  we  prepared  to  go  off  to  the  ship ;  but 
on  our  way  off  we  had  the  mortification  to  see 
her  fall  over  on  her  beam  ends.  When  we 
reached  the  ship  we  found  that  we  could  do 
nothing  with  her,  and  were  preparing  to  leave 
her,  when  we  discovered  in  the  bottom  of  the 
long-boat  the  carpenter's  axe  ;  we  then  cut  the 
parrel  and  gear  of  the  main-topsail  yard,  and 
let  it  drive  clear  of  the  wreck,  while  we  went 
to  cut  away  the  topmasts,  and  then  left  her  for 
that  day.  On  our  w^ay  ashore  we  found  the 
main-topsail  yard,  and  took  it  in  tow,  and 
landed  again  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening. 


34     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

The  approach  of  night  rendering  some  shel- 
ter necessary,  we  made  a  sort  of  tent  with  a 
sail,  and  lay  down  on  the  moss,  cold  and  wet, 
and  spent  a  most  uncomfortable  night  *  - 

Next  morning,  the  12th,  we  set  off  along 
shore  in  search  of  any  thing  that  might  have 
driven  from  the  ship,  and  found,  in  a  bay  at 
no  great  distance  from  our  tent,  a  barrel  of 
rosin,  the  arm  chest,  with  one  or  two  small 
carbines,  some  swan-shot,  and,  what  was  of 
greater  consequence  to  us,  several  calking 
irons  and  mallets ;  on  finding  these  w^e  went 
to  the  ship,  but  the  sea  was  so  high  we  could 
not  come  near  her,  and  we  returned  to  our 
tent. 

On  the  13th,  14th,  and  15th,  we  were  em- 
ployed in  repairing  the  boat,  which  had  begun 
to  get  very  leaky ;  having  picked  some  oakum, 
w^e  calked  the  seams  as  well  as  we  could.  Over 
the  places  where  this  was  insufficient,  we  nailed 
pieces  of  boards,  and  calked  round  the  edges. 
Although  we  could  not  pay  the  seams,  having 
nothing  to  melt  our  rosin  in,  we  succeeded  in 
making  her  tolerably  tight. 

On  the  1 6th  several  pieces  of  wreck  and  some 
sails  were  secured ;  this  day  was  chiefly  employ- 
ed in  preparations  for  going  off  to  the  wreck. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     35 

We  formed  a  grappling  iron  by  lashing  four 
bolts  together,  and  bending  them,  and  made 
a  line  piit  of  the  rigging  that  came  ashore 
with  tjhe  spars;  this  proved  of  great  service  in 
fishir^g  up  articles  from  the  wreck.  Every 
thing  being  ready,  and  the  17th  proving  fine, 
we  set  off  at  day -break,  and  taking  the  car- 
penter's axe  with  us,  we  cut  a  large  hole  in 
her  side,  just  before  the  main  channels. — 
With  the  grappling  irons  we  hooked  several 
sails,  and  a  number  of  other  articles,  such  as 
boxes  of  silks  and  nankeens,  and  made  three 
diiferent  trips  to  the  wreck  this  day. 

On  the  18th  we  were  busy  in  making  a  lar- 
ger tent  with  the  sails  we  had  got.  We  set  up 
two  small  spars  at  each  end,  and  laid  a  studding 
sail  boom  across  the  tops  of  them ;  over  this 
we  spread  a  topsail,  hung  smaller  sails  at  the 
ends,  and  placed  planks  round  the  bottom,  to 
prevent  them  from  being  blown  up  by  the 
wind.  With  the  soft  moss  of  the  island  for 
beds,  and  planks  to  sit  upon,  we  now  found 
ourselves  pretty  comfortable  in  every  respect 
but  one :  All  our  attempts  to  kindle  a  fire  prov- 
ed unavailing,  and  we  were  obliged  to  eat 
our  victuals  raw.  Observing  a  flight  of  large 
birds,  resembling  ravens,  carrying  something 


36     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

in  their  talons,  we  watched  where  they  alight- 
ed, and  going  to  the  spot,  found  several  par- 
cels of  pork  and  beef  w  hich  they  had  picked 
up,  the  barrels  being  staved  by  the  rocks.  In 
this  manner  we  procured  about  a  dozen  of 
pieces.  We  again  went  off  to  the  wreck  in 
the  afternoon,  to  see  what  we  could  get  on 
shore,  as  it  had  every  appearance  of  a  gale  of 
wind,  and  managed  to  get  three  of  our  chests 
out  of  the  vessel  before  dark ;  and  amongst 
them  mine.  It  contained  only  one  shirt  and 
my  bible,  which  I  had  put  into  one  of  those 
squares,  common  in  sailor's  chests,  for  hold- 
ing case  botdes,  and  in  which  it  was  firmly 
fixed,  in  consequence  of  having  sw  elled  with 
the  water.  I  w as  at  great  pains  in  drying  it 
in  the  sun,  and  succeeded  so  w  ell  that  I  could 
read  any  part  of  it.  It  w  as  afterwards  saved 
from  a  second  wreck;  and  in  my  future  hard- 
-ships  and  sufferings,  the  perusal  of  it  formed 
my  greatest  consolation.  It  is  still  in  my  pos- 
session, being  the  only  article  I  brought  with 
me  when  I  returned  to  my  native  country. 

We  also  secured  this  day,  a  barrel  of  fine 
biscuit ;  it  was  soaked  with  salt  w  ater,  but 
was,  nevertheless,  a  most  acceptable  addition 
to  our  store.     In  the  night,  between  the  18th 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  sf 

and  19th,  it  blew  so  hard  from  the  south, 
that  the  ship  went  to  pieces  before  morning. 
At.  day-break,  we  discovered  on  a  small  isle, 
separated  from  the  land  by  a  channel  which 
was  dry  at  low  water,  the  fore  part  of  the  ship, 
which  had  driven  high  up  on  the  beach.  Had 
we  been  able  to  have  moved  it  to  a  better  situ- 
ation, it  would  have  made  an  excellent  hut; 
but  this  was  beyond  our  strength.  It  was 
broken  up  and  gradually  removed  when  w^e 
could  afford  time.  Some  more  fragments  of 
the  wreck,  consisting  of  knees  and  planks, 
came  on  shore  this  day.  We  also  recovered  a 
few  packages  of  nankeens  and  chests  of  tea, 
which  we  spread  on  the  moss  to  dry. 

Our  horizon  to  the  south  being  interrupted 
by  the  reef,  the  captain  and  mate  went  out  in 
the  long-boat  to  determine  the  latitude  by  a 
meridian  altitude  of  the  sun.  The  result  of 
the  observations  gave  54  deg.  52  min.  north,  as 
the  latitude  of  the  south  side  of  the  island.* 


*  This  obsen-ation,  made  without  the  assistance  of  an  ephemerifi, 
or  tables  of  declination,  can  only  be  considered  as  an  approximation 
It  however  proves  that  Sannack  and  Halibut  island  is  the  same,  the 
latitude  of  that  inland,  as  ascertained  by  captain  Cook,  being  54 
deg.  27  min.  As  the  observation  was  made  about  the  time  of  the 
equinox,  the  correction  for  decliuatioa  might  be  estimated  within  a 
few  minutes. 

4 


38     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

We  made  a  number  of  trips  to  the  wreck  in 
the  course  of  the  ten  follow  ing  days,  and  saved 
a  considerable  part  of  the  cargo,  consisting  of 
chests  of  tea,  packages  of  nankeens,  and  bags 
of  rice.  The  last  time  we  went  off  to  the 
wreck,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Indians,  the 
wind  was  off  shore,  and  began  to  blow  so  fresh 
that  we  were  obliged  to  desist  from  our  labours. 
After  having  secured  a  few  more  sails,  some 
coils  of  cordage,  and  two  bales  of  silks,  having 
only  two  oars  and  a  heavy  boat  to  row,  we 
reached  the  shore  before  dark,  after  a  most 
fatiguing  pull.  By  this  time  so  much  of  the 
wreck  was  recovered  that  we  determined  to 
build  a  vessel  large  enough  to  carry  us  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  where  we  were  certain  of 
meeting  with  an  American  ship.  Our  princi- 
pal attention  was  now  turned  to  that  object, 
and  we  began  our  preparations  by  collecting 
into  one  place  planks  and  other  pieces  of  wood 
suitable  for  the  purpose. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     39 


CHAPTER  III. 

Arrivatl  of  a  party  of  Natives,  aniof  the  Russian  Command- 
ant of  Oonalaska,  who  determines  to  send  to  Kodiak  for 
assistance — -Long-boat  prepared  for  the  voyage — Some 
account  of  Sannack  or  Halibut  Island. 

Our  necessary  occupations,  and  the  unpro- 
mising appearance  of  the  country,  had  hither- 
to prevented  us  from  leaving  the  neighbour- 
hood of  our  hut ;  but  we  had  seen  nothing  that 
led  us  to  imagine  that  the  island  was  inhabit- 
ed. We  were,  however,  visited  on  the  28th, 
by  a  party  of  natives,  who  had  traced  the 
fragments  of  wreck  along  shore. 

About  mid-day  we  saw  them  approach  in 
three  small  skin  canoes,  with  one  Indian  in 
each.  One  of  them,  who  had  a  gold  medal 
about  his  neck,  came  forward,  and  addressed 
us  in  the  Russian  language.  The  captain, 
who  had  made  a  former  voyage  to  these  set- 
tlements, and  understood  a  few  words  of  the 
language,  contrived  to  make  our  situation 
known  to  him.  He  immediately  despatched 
one  of  his  companions  to  a  village  on  the 
northern  part  of  the  island  for  assistance,  and 


40  VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

the  other  to  Oonalaska  to  give  information  to 
the  commandant  of  the  Russian  settlements  on 
that  island. 

The  chief  himself  remained,  arid  most  wil- 
lingly gave  us  a  share  of  his  provisions,  which 
consisted  of  a  bladder  of  train  oil,  and  a  bas- 
ket of  berries,  about  the  size  of  bilberries,  pre- 
served in  oil.  These,  to  people  in  any  other 
situation,  would  scarcely  have  been  deemed 
an  acquis'ition.  Even  we,  who  had  lived  so 
long  on  raw  muscles,  found  some  difficulty  in 
reconciling  ourselves  to  train  oil ;  but  we 
thought  the  berries,  which  had  been  cured 
with  seal  oil,  no  small  luxury.  This  friendly 
Indian,  who  had  hooks  and  lines,  went  out  in 
his  canoe,  and  in  a  short  time  returned  with 
a  few  small  fish.  He  then  kindled  a  fire  in 
the  following  manner :  he  laid  a  piece  of 
^oft  wood  upon  the  ground,  and  took  another 
within  his  teeth  ;  between  these  he  put  an 
upright  piece  of  a  harder  quality,  which  he 
twirled  rapidly  around  with  a  thong  of  hide, 
as  we  would  a  drill ;  the  friction  soon  kin- 
dled the  soft  wood,  and  by  placing  it  in 
dried  grass,  and  blowing  it,  it  bm'St  into  a 
flame. 

"We  lost  no  time  in  broiling  the  fish,  and  en- 


VOYAGE  BOUND  THE  WORLD.  41 

joyed  the  first  Gomfortable  meal  we  had  since 
the  shipwreck. 

Next  day  about  forty  Indians,  men  and 
women,  came  and  encamped  beside  us  ;  they 
made  huts  for  themselves,  by  setting  up  planks, 
leaning  against  each  other  at  the  top,  and 
throwing  earth  upon  them,  over  which  they 
put  a  covering  of  grass. 

They  brought  a  supply  of  provisions,  con- 
sisting of  berries,  oil,  blubber,  and  dried  sal- 
mon, and  gave  us  a  share  of  all  they  had  with 
the  utmost  liberality. 

By  the  assistance  of  the  Indians,  who  towed 
our  boat  with  their  canoes,  we  made  two  more 
trips  to  the  wreck,  and  were  successful  in  sa- 
ving a  considerable  quantity  of  the  cargo,  as 
well  as  several  articles  of  greater  use  to  us  for 
our  intended  vessel ;  such  as  bolts  of  canvass, 
cordage,  and  other  naval  stores,  being  part  of 
the  rigging  of  the  ship  that  was  stranded  in 
the  harbor  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  In  sa- 
ving these  articles,  the  grappling-irons  proved 
of  the  greatest  service  ;  for  though  the  wreck 
lay  in  about  three  fathoms,  the  water  was  so 
clear,  when  the  wind  was  southerly,  that  we 
could  distinctly  see  what  lay  at  the  bottom.    A 

considerable  part  of  the  ship  still  held  together. 

4* 


42     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

In  about  a  week  after  this,  Mr.  Bander,  the 
Russian  commandant  of  Oonalaska,  arrived 
in  a  large  skin  canoe  or  baidare,  with  twenty 
or  thirty  Indians,  who  also  hutted  themselves 
beside  us.  The  presence  of  so  many  visiters 
formed  a  singular  contrast  to  the  solitude  in 
which  we  had  hitherto  lived.  Our  tent  was 
now  in  the  centre  of  a  busy  and  populous  vil- 
lage. 

Some  of  our  new  visiters  erected  huts, 
whilst  others  contented  themselves  with  sleep- 
ing under  their  baidare,  which  they  placed 
bottom  up,  and  raised  by  supports  from  the 
ground  on  the  lee  side. 

We  were  now  in  no  want  of  provisions. — 
In  addition  to  what  the  Indians  brought  with 
them,  they  procured  us  a  plentiful  supply  of 
fish  and  fowl,  particularly  geese,  in  which  the 
island  abounded ;  these  they  shot  with  their 
rifles,  in  the  use  of  which  they  are  very  ex- 
pert. 

These  rifles  are  no  wider  in  the  bore  than 
our  own ;  but  the  metal  is  extremely  thick, 
particularly  at  the  muzzle.  They  load  them 
almost  full  of  powder,  over  which  they  force 
a  piece  of  lead,  three  or  four  inches  long, 
with  a  mallet ;  this  comes  out  like  an  arrow. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     43 

The  piece  is  riested  upon  two  supports,  which 
fold  out,  and  are  stuck  in  the  ground.  I  have 
seen  them  fire  at  the  geese,  which  usually  sat 
in  rows,  and  kill  several  at  one  shot. 

Mr.  Bander  took  possession  of  the  ship's 
cargo.  Under  his  directions  we  went  off  to 
her  several  times,  in  company  with  the  In- 
dians, and  brought  away  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  the  nankeens  and  cloth  ;  but  were  not 
successful  in  getting  provisions,  for  we  se- 
cured nothing  except  a  few  casks  of  damaged 
bread,  and  half  a  puncheon  of  rum. 

Our  chief  attention  was  now  turned  towards 
our  vessel,  and  we  had  a  reasonable  prospect 
of  completing  her  by  the  aid  of  our  visiters. 

From  Oonalaska  we  procured  twelve  In- 
dians who  could  use  the  axe,  and  Mr.  Ban- 
der promised  us  the  assistance  of  Russian  car- 
penters from  Kodiak.  To  obtain  which,  as 
well  as  to  report  the  loss  of  the  ship  to  the 
governor  of  the  Russian  settlements,  the  long- 
boat was  fitted  out  for  a  voyage  to  Kodiak. — 
About  the  6th  of  November  the  necessary  re- 
pairs were  begun. 

The  seams  were  payed  with  a  composition 
of  the  rosin  that  had  been  saved  from  the 
wreck,  and  train  oil,  boiled  to  a  consistence 


44  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

in  the  kettles  of  the  Indians.  A  kmd  of  spar 
deck  was  formed,  by  laying  the  boards  of  the 
hat  boxes  over  the  thwarts ;  and  upon  these 
we  nailed  a  tarpaulin :  a  hatch  way  was  left 
at  the  stern,  by  which  we  got  below,  and  in 
which  the  man  at  the  helm  could  stand.  We 
laid  a  small  platform  on  the  bottom,  and  cover- 
ed it  with  skins  ;  this  formed  a  birth  into  which 
w^e  could  creep,  but  it  was  too  low  to  allow  us 
to  sit  upright.  Out  of  the  ship's  spanker  I 
made  a  suit  of  sails.  She  was  rigged  a  sloop, 
and  provided  with  a  cable  and  grapnel.  She 
was  small  enough  for  a  voyage  of  500  miles  at 
such  a  season,  being  only  twenty-two  feet 
long,  and  measuring  about  six  ton.  She,  how- 
ever, proved  an  excellent  sea-boat. 

Every  thing  being  completed  by  the  17th, 
we  laid  in  our  stores,  consisting  of  dried  sal- 
mon, berries,  and  oil,  with  a  cask  of  water, 
and  sailed  on  the  following  morning.  The 
crew  consisted  of  Mr.  Bartram,  second  mate, 
myself,  and  seven  more  of  the  crew,  one  In- 
dian, who  acted  as  pilot. 

The  island  on  which  we  had  now  remained 
two  months,  is  called  by  the  natives  Sannack  ; 
by  Captain  Cook  it  is  named  Halibut  Island. 
It  is  situated  in  latitude  54.  27.  north,  longi- 


l«r 


YQYAGE  ROUiND  THE  WORLD.  45 

tude  197.  ea^t,.  and  lies  10  or  12  leagues  to 
the  south  of  the  promontory  of  Aliaski,  and 
about  60  east  of  Oonalaska.  It  is  quite  flat, 
with  the  exception  of  two  mountains,  is  eight 
or  ten  miles  long,  and  about  six  bi'oad.  The 
main  land  could  be  distinctly  seen ;  and  the 
remarkable  volcano  mentioned  by  Captain 
Cook,  bore  N.  N.  W.  from  our  tent.  It  was 
constandy  smoking  during  the  day,  and  at 
night  we  could  frequently  see  the  flames. 

The  land  produces  nothing  eatable  but  ber- 
ries. To  the  south  lies  the  dangerous  reef 
upon  which  we  were  wrecked ;  it  is  of  great 
extent,  for  when  at  the  ship  we  observed  break- 
ers a  considerable  distance  to  the  southward. 

There  is  a  village  of  12  or  15  Indian  fami-- 
lies  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  island. — 
These  people  are  under  the  government  of  the 
Russians,  for  whom  they  provide  furs  for  the 
American  company.  They  are  a  quite  inof- 
fensive race,  converts  to  the  Greek  Church, 
and  if  not  very  devout,  are  at  least  extremely 
attentive  to  the  ceremonial  part  of  crossing 
themselves. 

Their  appearance  and  manners  will  be  af- 
terwards more  particularly  described.  iVs  the 
whole  of  their  sustenance,  clothing,  and,  in- 


4^     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

deed,  every  article  they  make  use  of,  except 
a  few  berries,  are  the  produce  of  the  sea,  they 
are  extremely  expert  in  managing  their  canoes, 
and  most  ingenious  in  their  modes  of  catching 
fish  and  other  sea  animals.  They  are  excel- 
lent marksmen  with  the  rifle  and  spear;  to 
the  latter  they  fix  a  bladder,  which  prevents 
the  wounded  animal  from  taking  it  under 
water,  and  dart  it  with  great  force  and  cer- 
tainty by  means  of  a  throwing  stick. 

Like  all  other  savages  I  have   seen,  they 
are  immoderately  fond  of  spirits  and  tobacco. 


W 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  47 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Sail  from  Sannack  in  the  long-boat — Touch  at  the  Island 
of  Ungar — Distressing  state  of  the  settlement  there — 
Sail  from  thence — Anchor  at  the  village  of  Schutkum — 
Departure  from  it — Boat  nearly  embayed  on  the  north 
coast  of  Kodiak — Arrived  at  Alexandria — Transactions 
there — Boat  fitted  out  to  return  to  Sannack. 

We  sailed  from  Sannack,  in  the  long-boat, 
on  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  November; 
but  had  scarcely  been  an  hour  at  sea,  before 
we  discovered  a  leak  in  the  counter,  which 
forced  us  to  put  back. 

Having  repaired  the  damage,  we  again  set 
sail  next  morning,  with  a  fair  southerly  wind. 
Our  little  vessel  made  better  weather  than 
could  have  been  expected,  and  so  long  as  it 
continued  moderate,  she  scudded  before  the 
sea  perfectly  dry  ;  we  boomed  out  the  foresail 
on  the  weather  side,  and  the  wind  being  fair, 
proceeded  on  our  voyage  at  a  great  rate. — 
About  noon  it  freshened  into  a  smart  gale,  and 
the  sea  rose  considerably,  frequently  curling 
over  the  stern  in  an  alarming  manner.  Our 
open  cock-pit  rendered  this  extremely  danger- 


49.  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ous,  till  we  adopted  an  expedient  of  which  1 
fortunately  recollected  having  read  in  the  voy- 
ages of  soirie  Dutch  navigators,  who  used  oil 
to  smooth  the  sea.  Upon  trying  the  experi- 
ment, it  proved  an  effectual  remedy.  We 
lashed  a  keg  of  oil  upon  the  taftrail,  allowing 
a  small  stream  to  run  from  it,  which  spread  a 
scum  over  the  surface  in  our  wake,  and  com- 
pletely prevented  the  waves  from  topping. 

The  coast  of  Aliaski  which  we  passed  this 
day,  is  very  mountainous,  and  deeply  in- 
dented with  arms  of  the  sea.  Many  small 
islands  lie  near  the  shore,  W'hich  are  covered 
with  brushwood.  Sometimes  a  temporary 
hut  erected  by  the  hunters  is  to  be  seen,  but 
there  were  no  other  symptoms  of  inhabitants. 
Extensive  reefs  of  rocks  lie  a  considerable 
distance  off  the  land  ;  our  pilot,  who  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  navigation,  took  us  with- 
in them  ;  but  strangers  should  be  very  cautious 
in  approaching  this  part  of  the  coast. 

About  ten  at  night  we  were  close  in  with 
an  island  of  considerable  height,  and  attempt- 
ed to  pass  to  leevi^ard,  but  were  prevented  by 
breakers,  which  obliged  us  to  tack  and  pass  on 
the  outside.  A  round  lofty  rock  lies  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  to  the  southwest ;  the  channel  within 


VOYAGE  ROUxNly  THE  WORLD.  49 

seemed  also  full  of  rocks,  and  we  Avere  obliged 
to  mak;e  another  tack  before  we  could  weather 
it^  Our  situation  for  about  two  hours  after 
this,  wa$  very  alarming;  we  passed  many 
sunk  rocks,  and  were  repeatedly  obliged  to 
tack  in  order  to  avoid  them. 

At  day-break  we  found  ourselves  near  a 
barren  island,  four  or  five  miles  in  length,  lying 
to  the  south  of  a  larger  one  called  Ungar. 
We  passed  through  the  sound  between  them, 
and,  coasting  along  the  southern  shore  of  Un- 
gar, arrived  about  ten  A.  M.  at  a  village,  situ- 
ated on  the  eastern  part  of  the  island,  after  a 
run  of  160  miles. 

We  found  the  setdement  here  in  the  most 
distressing  situation.  The  whole  of  the  male 
inhabitants,  except  the  Russian  overseer  and 
his  son,  and  the  Indian  interpreter,  having 
gone  out  to  catch  seals,  about  three  wxeks  be- 
fore this  time,  a  severe  gale  of  wind  came  on, 
which  their  slight  canoes  were  unable  to  resist, 
and  every  one  of  them  perished.  This  dread- 
ful calamity  did  not  prevent  the  survivors  from 
receiving  us  with  the  kindest  hospitahty.  We 
were  lodged  in  the  hot  bath,  which  was  effec- 
tually warmed  by  the  steam  of  \a  ater  thrown 
upon  red-hot  stones. 
5 


^  VOYAGE  ROUx\D  THE  WORLD- 

Ungar  is  nearly  twenty  miles  in  length ;  in 
the  interior  the  country  rises  into  lofty  moun- 
tains ;  near  the  sea  it  is  more  level,  and  is 
covered  with  brushwood,  but  produces  no 
vegetable  food,  except  berries,  and  a  root  from 
which  the  Russians  make  the  liquor  called 
quass.  We  remained  eight  days  at  this  place, 
during  which  we  went  out  several  times  to 
shoot  deer,  with  which  the  island  abounds, 
accompanied  by  the  son  of  the  overseer  and 
the  interpreter ;  we  had  tolerable  sport,  and 
the  venison  made  a  most  acceptable  addition 
to  our  store.  ^^ 

The  natives  seem,  in  all  respects,  the  same 
as  those  at  Sannack.  The  settlement  con- 
sisted of  one  Russian  and  about  thirty  Indian 
families.  The  houses  of  the  latter  were  built 
of  mud,  in  the  form  of  a  bee-hive,  w  ith  a  hole 
at  the  top  instead  of  a  door  ;  they  had  no  fire- 
places, but  warmed  themselves  by  means  of 
lamps  made  out  of  flat  hollow  stones,  with 
rush  wicks,  which  when  cold,  they  placed  un- 
der their  frocks.  One  cooking  place  served 
for  the  whole  village. 

This  island  is  separated  from  the  main  land, 
by  a  strait  nearly  ten  miles  wide  at  high  water, 
but  so  extremely  shallow  that  it  is  said  to  dry 


VOYAGE  ROUNP  THE  WORLD.     51 

at  lovv  ebbs,  when  deer  frequently  pass  over 
iVptti  the  continent. 

The  Village  is  situated  on  the  north  side 
of  a  small,  well  sheltered  harbour,  the  en- 
trance to  which  is  between  two  rocky  heads, 
not  above  a  cable's  length  asunder.  Within 
it  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad,  and  divides, 
a  short  way  above  the  village,  into  two 
branches,  one  of  which  extends  a  considera- 
ble distance  to  the  west.  There  are  three  or 
four  high  pointed  rocks  a  little  to  the  south 
of  the  entrance,  but  there  is  deep  water  all 
round. 

We  sailed  on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  with 
the  wind  at  N.  W.  and  steered  between  the 
main  land  and  a  small  isle  to  the  east  of  Un- 
gar.  Before  we  reached  the  open  sea,  the 
wind  headed  us,  and  blew  with  such  violence 
as  to  force  us  back  to  the  harbour  we  left 
in  the  morning.  Gales  from  the  N.  E.  with 
heavy  falls  of  snow,  prevented  us  from  sailing 
for  the  eight  following  days.  I  employed  my- 
self in  making  a  squaresail  out  of  a  bolt  of 
canvass  we  had  for  the  purpose. 

Having  laid  in  a  store  of  deer's  flesh,  dried 
and  boiled,  the  only  provisions  the  place  af- 
forded, we  again  sailed  on  the  morning  of  the 


52  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  AVORLD. 

6th  of  December ;  the  wind  strong  from  tlie 
west,  with  squalls,  accompanied  with  snow 
showers.  The  excessive  cold  made  us  feel 
severely  the  want  of  a  cam  boose,  or  fire  place 
in  the  boat. 

We  continued  to  coast  along  the  main  land, 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  shore.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  barren  aspect  of  the  country, 
w  hich  consisted  of  a  range  of  steep  and  rug- 
ged hills,  destitute  of  wood,  or  almost  any 
appearance  of  vegetation.  Many  reefs  lie  a 
considerable  way  off  the  land. 

On  the  7th  we  passed  an  island  called  St. 
Ivan,  the  w  eather  still  very  cold,  with  snow. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  wind  veered  to  the 
N.  E.  and  blew  with  such  violence  that  we 
w^ere  driven  out  to  sea;  had  the  gale  con- 
tinued, our  situation  would  have  been  highly 
critical ;  for  our  water  was  nearly  expended, 
and  we  were  unprovided  with  a  compass  to 
direct  our  course  ;  fortunately,  however,  it 
abated  towards  morning,  when  we  tacked 
and  stood  to  the  shore.  About  noon  we  were 
close  in  wdth  the  land,  and  being  anxious  to 
kindle  a  fire,  anchored  in  a  bay,  where  the 
brushw^ood  grew  down  to  the  water's  edge. 
One  of  the  Indians  landed  to  cut  firewood, 


VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD.  53 

but,  he  was  scarcely  upon  shore  when  three 
bears  made  their  appearance,  and  forced  him 
to  swim  back  to  the  boat.  We  were  reluc- 
tantly obliged  to  desist ;  and  having  weighed 
anchor,  we  went  ten  miles  further,  to  a  village 
called  Schu#um. 

A  number  of  sunk  rocks  lie  about  half  a 
mile  to  the  south  of  this  place,  with  an  intri- 
cate and  narrow  channel,  through  which  we 
were  piloted  by  the  overseer,  who  came  out  to 
meet  us  in  a  bidarka. 

After  remaining  here  three  day3,  we  sailed 
a«*ain  on  the  13th,  havincc  met  with  the  same 
hospitable  treatment  we  had  uniformly  expe- 
rienced from  these  islanders.  They  liberal- 
ly supplied  us  with  berries  and  oil,  bear's 
flesh,  and  dried  salmon.  Soon  after  leaving 
Schutcum,  we  doubled  a  bluff  head,  and 
opened  up  a  strait*  that  separates  Kodiak 
from  the  main  land ;  a  short  way  beyond  it 
passed  a  narrow  entrance  leading  into  a  spa- 
cious bay  or  inlet ;  the  pilot  told  us  that  it 
stretched  twenty  or  thirty    verstsf  into   the 

*  Captain  Mears,  in  the  Snow  Nootka,  navigated  this  strait  in" 
1786  ;  he  named  it  Petrie's  Strait.  In  the  chart  affixed  to  Coxe's 
Russian  Discoveries,  and  by  Dr.  Langsdorf,  it  is  named  the  Strait 
of  Cbelekoflf. 

t  A  verstis  about  two  thirds  of  a  mile. 

5* 


54     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

country,  and  afforded  an  excellent  shelter  for 
ships.  We  then  stood  over  to  Kodiak,  which 
we  reached  in  the  evening ;  the  wind  W.  S.  W. 
with  fine  weather ;  we  run  along  shore  during 
the  night.  Next  day,  about  two  o'clock,  we 
passed  near  a  rock,  on  which  several  outches, 
or  sea-lions,  were  sitting ;  some  of  them  swam 
towards  us,  uttering  loud  yells  ;  but  as  the  boat 
was  going  at  a  great  rate  through  the  watei', 
we  soon  lost  sight  of  them. 

Soon  after,  whilst  crossing  a  deep  bay,  the 
wind  checked  round  to  the  northwest,   and 
blew  so  liard  at  times  as  to  oblige  us  to  take 
in  all  our  sails.     We  endeavored  to  run  under 
the  w^est  point  of  the  bay,  where  there  seem- 
ed to  be  good  shelter  ;  but  we  fell  to  leeward, 
and  were  under  apprehensions  that  we  should 
not  be  able  to  weather  the  point  that  formed 
its  eastern  extremity.     Mr.  Bertram  proposed 
to  run  the  boat  ashore,  but  the  surf  was  so 
heavy,  that  the  attempt  would  have  been  ex- 
tremely hazardous.      I  was  of  opinion   that 
we  might  w^eather  the  point  by  carrying  sail, 
and  he  allowed  me  to  take  the  helm.     Having 
set  our  close-reefed  mainsail  and    storm-jib, 
the  whole  crew,  except  myself,  went  below, 
and  lay  as  much  as  possible  to  the  w  eather 


^T-ji 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     55 

side,  by  Which  means  the  boat  was  enabled 
to  carry  sail  till  we  cleared  the  head.  After 
this  we  had  the  wind  upon  our  quarter,  and 
the  evening  proving  fine,  we  made  great  pro- 
gress. 

The  channel  or  strait,  which  separates  Ko- 
diak  from  the  continent,  is  about  fifteen 
leas^ues  in  breadth,  and  as  far  as  I  could 
judge,  is  free  from  danger,  except  close  in 
shore. 

We  entered  by  moonlight  the  strait  between 
Kodiak  and  several  smaller  islands  to  the  east, 
with  a  strong  tide  in  our  favor,  and  were  clear 
of  it  before  daylight. 

Being  in  want  of  water,  we  landed  early 
in  the  morning,  and  having  kindled  a  fire, 
had  a  warm  breakfast  before  embarking. — 
The  country  here  was  well  wooded  with 
pines,  but  we  saw  no  inhabitants.  We  made 
sail  about  eleven,  and  entered  the  harbour 
of  Alexandria  before  dark.  We  hoisted  a 
Russian  jack  which  we  had  on  board,  upon 
which  a  Baiderai  came  off  and  towed  us  in. 
There  were  two  ships  and  a  brig  at  anchor  in 
the  bay. 

Alexandria  is  the  principal  Russian  settle- 
ment in  the  Fox  islands,  and  the  residence  of 


56     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  governor,  upon  whom  we  waited  imme- 
diately upon  our  landing,  with  our  letters  from 
Mr.  Bander. 

He  gave  each  of  us  a  tumbler  of  brandy, 
and  sent  us  to  the  cazerne,  or  barracks,  where 
the  Russian  convicts  lodged. 

The  brig  which  lay  in  the  harbour  was  or- 
dered to  be  fitted  out  for  Sannack,  for  the 
pui^pose  of  taking  in  that  part  of  the  cargo 
of  the  Eclipse  which  had  been  saved  from  the 
wreck.  As  it  would  take  a  considerable  time 
before  she  could  be  got  ready,  the  governor  or- 
dered us  to  return  in  the  boat  with  the  carpen- 
ters and  tools  required  for  our  vessel,  that  no 
time  might  be  lost. 

We  remained  here  three  weeks,  and  du- 
ring that  time  we  were  employed  in  prepa- 
rations for  our  return.  The  boards  we  had 
nailed  on  the  boat's  bottom  were  stripped 
off,  and  she  was  thoroughly  repaired  by  the 
Russian  carpenters.  A  camboose  for  our 
fire  was  made,  by  sawing  a  cask  in  two, 
and  filling  it  with  gravel,  and  secured  by 
lashing  it  to  the  mast.  We  also  pro\ided 
ourselves  with  a  compass,  the  want  of  which 
we  had  experienced  in  our  voyage  thither, 
our  view  of  the    land  having  been  almost 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  57 


.♦ 


constantly  intercepted  by  fogs  and  snow  show- 
ers. 

Mr.  Baranoff,  the  governor,  gave  us  a  chart 
of  the  Fox  islands  and  adjoining  continent ; 
and  furnished  us  with  letters,  in  case  we 
should  find  it  necessary  to  touch  at  any  of  the 
Russian  settlements ;  he  also  sent  three  car- 
penters to  assist  in  the  consti-uction  of  our 
vessel. 

By  the  8th  of  January  1808,  every  thing 
was  completed,  and  we  had  laid  in  a  good 
stock  of  provisions,  consisting  of  salted  pork 
and  bear's  flesh,  two  skin  bags  of  rusk,  two 
casks  of  water,  and  a  keg  of  rum,  with  pre- 
served berries,  and  blubber  for  the  Indians. 


55  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Departure  from  Alexandria — Boat  forced  into  a  bay  by  tKe 
weather,  and  hauled  on  shore — Obliged,  by  want  of  pro- 
visions, to  leave  the  bay — A  snow  storm — The  boat 
springs  aleak — Is  run  on  shore,  and  goes  to  pieces  upon 
the  rocks — A  hut  discovered,  in  which  the  crew  pass  the 
night. 

We  quitted  the  harbour  of  Alexandria  on 
the  morning  of  the  9th  of  January,  (O.  S.)* 
on  our  voyage  back  to  Halibut  island. 

With  a  line  breeze  of  southerly  wind  we 
coasted  along  the  northeast  shore  of  Kodiak, 
leaving  on  our  right  a  cluster  of  islands  which 
lie  to  the  eastward.  Upon  the  largest,  w^hich 
is  called  Afognac,  I  was  informed  there  are  se- 
veral Russian  settlements. 

This  is  the  finest  part  of  the  island  I  have 
seen,  the  country  being  covered  with  wood, 
chiefly  of  the  pine  tribe,  and  many  of  the  trees 
of  great  size.  The  other  islands  are  also  well 
wooded. 

In  the  evening  the  wind  died  away,  and 
the  tide  turned  against  us  when  nearly  half 

*  The  dates  in  this  part  of  the  work,  are  according  to  the  Rus- 
sian style. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  TH£  WORLD.     i^9 

way  through  the  straits.     We  anchored  for  the 
ni^ht  in  a  cove  on  the  larboard  side. 

Next  morning  at  daylight,  we  weighed,  with 
a  strong  breeze  from  the  east,  which  soon  car- 
ried us  clear  of  the  strait.  Upon  reaching 
the  open  sea,  \\e  shaped  our  course  to  the 
northwest.  * 

The  headland  or  cape,  which  forms  the  ex- 
tremity on  the  starboard  hand,  is  perfectly  le- 
vel on  the  summit  for  nearly  a  mile,  and  ter- 
minates in  a  lofty  perpendicular  cliff. 

On  the  following  day  the  wind  changed  to 
the  northwest,  and  blew  hard,  with  a  heavy 
sea ;  as  it  was  directly  against  us,  with  every 
appearance  of  a  gale  coming  on,  we  were 
obliged  to  bear  away  for  a  harbour.  At  noon, 
we  reached  a  well  sheltered  bay,  on  the  north- 
ern side  of  Kodiak.  From  the  threatening 
appearance  of  the  weather,  it  was  judged  pru- 
dent to  haul  the  boat  on  shore ;  and  there  be- 
ing no  habitations  within  reach,  we  were  un- 
der the  necessity  of  living  on  board. 

The  bay  was  surrounded  by  high  moun- 
tains, with  a  rocky  shore,  except  at  our  land- 
ing place,  where  there  was  a  small  extent  of 
sandy  beach.  The  whole  country  was  at  this 
time,  many  feet  deep  witli  snow,  which  pre- 


60  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WO^LB, 

vented  us  from  making  any  distant  excursions. 
At  this  place  we  were  forced  by  the  weather  to 
remain  ten  days. 

The  dread  of  famine  at  last  obliged  us  to 
put  to  sea,  although  the  state  of  the  weather 
was  by  no  means  favourable  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  our  voyage.  The  surrounding  coun- 
try produced  no  food  of  any  kind,  and  our 
stock  of  provisions  was  nearly  expended.  We 
left  the  bay,  in  hopes  of  reaching  a  settlement 
called  Karlouskij  \\  hich  lay  at  no  great  dis- 
tance to  the  west. 

We  launched  the  boat  on  the  morning  of 
the  21st,  and  stood  over  towards  the  main 
land.  When  about  mid-channel,  we  disco- 
vered that  the  boat  had  sprung  a  leak  ;  at  the 
same  time  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  came  on,  ac- 
companied with  violent  squalls.  The  leak 
gained  so  much  upon  us,  that  it  became  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  run  for  the  nearest  shore. 
— Had  the  day  been  clear,  we  might  have  got 
back  to  the  harbour  we  had  quitted  in  the 
morning ;  but  the  snow  rendered  it  so  dark 
that  we  could  scarcely  see  a  boat's  length 
ahead  ;  we  had  therefore  no  resource  but  to 
put  before  the  wind,  and  trust  our  lives  to  Pro- 
vidence, 


yOtAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     ^l 

The  first  view  we  had  of  the  shore  was 
most  alarming ;  we  were  completely  embay- 
ed, with  a  heavy  surf  breaking  amongst  the 
rocks,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  the  violence 
of  the  gale,  and  the  state  of  the  boat,  were 
such  as  to  preclude  any  hopes  of  working  out 
of  the  bay.  We  therefore  turned  the  bow  to 
that  part  of  the  shore  which  seemed  clearest  of 
rocks,  and  a  sea  carried  us  so  far  up,  that  when 
it  retired,  we  were  left  almost  dry ;  the  next 
wave  carried  us  a  little  further,  upon  which  the 
second  mate  imprudently  let  go  the  anchor  ; 
when  it  retired  we  all  jumped  out,  and  reached 
the  shore  in  safety.  Upon  the  return  of  the 
swell,  the  boat  swung  round,  with  her  head  to 
the  sea,  and  being  prevented  by  the  anchor 
from  driving  farther  up,  she  almost  immediate- 
ly went  to  pieces  upon  the  rocks. 

That  part  of  the  island  on  which  we  were 
cast  was  quite  barren,  and  many  miles  distant 
from  the  nearest  settlement,  the  path  to  which 
lay  across  mountains  covered  with  snow. 

After  collecting  what  we  could  save  of  the 

wreck  of  the  boat,  we  set  out  in  search  of  some 

place  to  shelter  us  for  the  night,  and  fortunately 

discovered,  at  no  great  distance,  one  of  those 

huts  that  are  constructed  for  the  use  of  the  fox 
6 


6^     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  bear  hunters.  It  was  too  sraall  to  admit 
of  a  fire  in  the  inside  ;  but  the  number  of  peo- 
ple crowded  into  it  rendered  the  cold  less 
intense  ;  and  we  lighted  a  fire  in  the  open  air, 
at  which  we  made  ready  our  provisions. 

Upon  examining  our  remaining  stock,  we 
found,  that  with  the  utmost  economy,  it  would 
not  last  above  three  or  four  days ;   it  became 
therefore  necessary  to  form  some  plan  to  ex- 
tricate ourselves  from  so  deplorable  a  situation. 
The  bay  in  which  we  were  wrecked  was 
surrounded  with  high  mountains,  which   ran 
down  to  the  shore,  terminating  in  a  steep  range 
of  rocks,  or  what  sailors  call  an  iron  bound 
coast.     Karlouski,  the  nearest  settlement,  lay, 
as  we  were  informed  by  our  Russian  compa- 
nions, at  a  considerable  distance  to  the  west. 
We  deliberated  whether  we  should  attempt  to 
reach  it  by  crossing  the  mountains,  or  by  going 
along  shore   at  low  water.     The  danger  and 
difficulty   of  making   our  journey   over    the 
snow  deterred  us  from  adopting  the  first  plan  : 
w^e  therefore  fixed  on  the  latter,  and  determin- 
ed to  set  out  on  our  journey  next  morning. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     63 


CHAPTER  Vr. 

A  party  quit  the  hut  in  search  of  a  settlement — Author's  feet 
frost-bitten — Progress  of  the  party  interrupted  by  a 
mountain — Return  towards  the  hut,  till  prevented  by  the 
tide  from  passing  a  reef  of  rocks — Pass  the  night  in  a  val- 
ley— Next  morning  set  off  at  low  water— Author  falls  be- 
hind, and  in  attempting  to  climb  over  a  rock, .gets  his 
hands  frost-bitten — Critical  situation — Reaches  the  hut — 
Two  Russians  reach  a  settlement  by  the  mountains,  and 
send  relief — Some  account  of  Karlouski — Voyage  to 
Alexandria. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  we  quitted  the 
hut,  leaving  one  of  the  Russians  and  our  Indian 
pilot  to  take  charge  of  what  we  had  saved 
from  the  boat. 

Having  proceeded  some  distance,  we  were 
interrupted  by  a  reef  of  rocks,  over  which  it 
was  necessary  to  wade.  I  was  provided  with 
strong  seal-skin  boots,  but  unfortunately  in 
crossing  they  were  filled  with  water,  which, 
the  cold  being  so  severe,  the  exercise  of  w^alk- 
ing  did  not  prevent  from  freezing.  In  a 
short  time  I  lost  all  feeling  in  my  feet,  but  was 
able  to  keep  up  wdth  my  companions,  till  our 
progress  along  shore  was  completely  stopped 


64  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

by  a  mountain  which  projected  into  the  sea. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  get  round  the  base^ 
we  attempted  to  climb  over  the  summit.  It 
was  very  steep,  and  in  many  places  crusted 
with  ice.  I  had  by  this  time  entirely  lost  the 
use  of  my  feet,  and  w  ith  all  my  exertions,  was 
unable  to  keep  pace  with  my  companions. 
In  many  places  I  was  forced  to  dig  steps  in 
the  ice  and  snow,  with  a  pair  of  boots  I  had 
on  my  hands  for  that  purpose.  At  length, 
after  great  labour  and  fatigue,  I  gained  what 
I  imagined  to  be  the  summit ;  it  proved,  how- 
ever, to  be  little  more  than  half  way  up,  and 
the  hio;her  part  of  the  mountain  was  quite  in- 
accessible. I  endeavoured  to  descend  again  ; 
but  in  a  short  time  found  that  the  state  of  my 
feet  rendered  the  attempt  unavailing.  I  had 
no  alternative  but  to  slide  down  ;  and,  there- 
fore, throwing  away  the  boots,  and  placing  my 
hands  behind  me,  to  direct  my  course,  1  came 
down  wdth  such  velocity,  that  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  I  sunk  at  least  ten  feet  into  the  frozen 
snow.  I  was  at  first  almost  suffocated,  till  I 
made  a  little  room  by  pressing  the  snow  from 
me.  I  called  as  loud  as  I  was  able  for  assis- 
tance, but  could  not  make  my  companions 
hear  me,  although  I  heai'd  their  voices  per- 


yOYAGE  ROUiND  THE  WORLD.  6j 

fectly  well  calling  upon  me.  I  at  length  re- 
lieved myself,  by  compressing  the  snow  till  it 
became  sufficiently  hard  to  bear  my  weight. 
I  then  planted  my  feet  into  it,  and  reached 
the  surface. 

We  turned  back,  and  endeavoured  to  pro- 
ceed by  a  valley  which  lay  behind  the  moun- 
tain. My  feet  by  this  time  were  frozen,  never 
to  recover ;  and  I  was  so  ill  able  to  ascend, 
that  I  was  frequently  blown  over  by  the  wind, 
and  sometimes  driven  a  considerable  way 
down  the  hill.  Exhausted  by  these  fruitless 
trials  to  keep  up  with  the  rest,  I  became  total- 
ly unable  to  proceed,  and  was  left  to  my  fate. 
1  laid  myself  down  on  the  snow  in  a  state  of 
despair.  Having  recovered  a  little,  I  resolved 
to  make  another  attempt  to  follow  the  track  of 
my  companions,  but  had  not  proceeded  far 
when  I  met  them  coming  down  the  hill,  which 
had  proved  to  be  impassable. 

We  now  set  off  on  our  return  to  the  hut, 
but  were  soon  interrupted  by  a  steep  rock, 
which  the  rising  tide  prevented  us  from  pass- 
ing. We  had  no  resource, but  to  wait  till  low 
water  next  day,  and  to  pass  the  night  w  here 
we  were.  This  was  a  most  unfortunate  cir- 
cumstance for  me,  for  had  I  reached  the  hut, 
6* 


66  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  got  my  feet  dried,  they  would  in  all  like- 
lihood have  recovered.  It  blew  hard,  and  the 
night  was  piercingly  cold  ;  we  therefore  re- 
turned to  the  valJey,  where  there  was  at  least 
some  shelter  from  the  wind. 

The  Russians,  who  knew  thp  effects  of  cold, 
informed  us  that  the  consequences  of  lying 
down  would  be  fatal.  Although  well  aware  of 
this,  I  was  so  much  overcome  by  cold  and  fa- 
tigue, that  I  several  times  dropt  asleep  upon 
my  feet ;  but  my  companions,  who  had  not 
suffered  so  much,  took  care  to  arouse  me. 

Next  morning  we  again  set  off  for  the  hut, 
and  met  with  no  interruption  till  we  came  to 
the  reef  where  1  had  got  my  feet  wet.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  high  wind,  the  swell  was 
heavier  than  it  had  been  the  day  before,  and 
my  feet  were  so  powerless  that  a  wave  washed 
me  completely  o^^  the  reef  into  deep  water. 
It  was  fortunately  towards  the  shore,  and  on  the 
returning  wave  I  recovered  my  footing,  and 
succeeded  in  getting  over. 

I  followed  my  companions  as  well  as  ray 
exhausted  strength  and  the  stale  of  my  feet 
would  permit,  but  fell  considerably  behind, 
and  had  entirely  lost  sight  of  them,  when 
ray  progress   was  impeded  by  a  projecting 


^^i   VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.      6r 

crag,  through  which  a  natural  perforation 
formed  the  only  passage.  The  entrance  was 
elevated  a  considerable  way  from  the  ground, 
and  that  part  of  the  rock  over  which  it  was 
necessary  to  scramble,  was  nearly  perpendicu- 
lar, and  almost  covered  with  ice. 

With  a  little  assistance  I  could  have  easily 
got  over  ;  but  situated  as  I  was,  my  own  ex- 
ertions were  of  little  avail.  My  feet  were  of 
no  use  in  climbing,  and  I  was  obliged  to  drag 
myself  up  by  my  hands,  in  doing  which  they 
also  were  frozen.  After  many  ineffectual  at- 
tempts, I  had,  as  I  thought,  gained  the  top ; 
but  when  I  had  tried  to  lay  hold  of  a  projec- 
tion in  the  rock,  my  fingers  refused  to  perform 
their  office,  and  1  fell  to  the  ground. 

The  tide  was  fast  rising,  and  the  surge  al- 
ready washed  the  spot  where  I  stood ;  in  a 
few  minutes  it  would  have  been  too  late,  and 
I  must  have  perished  had  I  been  obliged  to  re-  , 
main  another  tide,  with  my  feet  and  hands 
frozen,  and  my  wTiole  body  wet.  As  a  last 
resource,  I  collected  a  few  stones,  which  I  had 
just  strength  to  pile  sufficiently  high  to  enable 
me  to  get  over. 

This  took  place  early  in  the  day,  and  the 
hut  was  only  a  few  miles  farther  on,  but  I  was 


68     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

SO  much  enfeebled  that  I  did  not  reach  it  till 
dusk. 

I  never  again  walked  on  my  feet ;  but,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  recovered  the  use  of  my 
hands,  with  the  loss  of  only  two  fingers. 

I  was  treated  with  great  humanity  upon  my 
arrival,  by  the  Russians,  who  had  preserved 
their  clothes  dry  in  seal  skin  bags.  They  gave 
me  a  suit,  and  having  cut  off  my  boots,  w  rap- 
ped my  feet  and  hands  in  flannel  drawers.  I 
was  laid  upon  a  bed  of  dried  grass,  after  hav- 
ing satisfied  my  hunger  with  some  rusk  and 
blubber,  w  hich  were  the  only  provisions  that 
remained. 

As  om'  stock  was  so  low,  no  time  was  to  be 
lost  in  procuring  assistance ;  accordingly,  the 
two  who  had  remained  set  out  next  morning 
to  endeavor  to  reach  the  settlement  by  the 
mountains. 

On  the  third  day  after  their  depaiture  our 
provisions  were  completely  exhausted ;  but 
the  weather  had  been  tolerable,  and  w^e  knew 
that  if  they  succeeded,  they  would  lose  no 
tiuie  in  sending  us  refief. 

On  the  27th,  those  who  had  been  on  the 
look  out  brought  the  joyful  intelligence  that 
five  canoes  were  in  sight,  which  proved  to 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     09 

have  been  sent  by  our  companions,  who  had 
reached  the  village  in  safety. 

We  quitted  the  hut  on  the  28th,  in  the  ca- 
noes, which  were  baidarkas,  with  three  seats 
in  each.  In  crossing  a  bay  we  encountered  a 
heavy  sea  ;  in  order  to  keep  me  dry  I  was  put 
below,  and  the  hole  in  which  I  sat  was  stuffed 
up  with  the  gut  frock. 

It  was  a  great  relief  to  me  when  we  got  in- 
to smoother  water,  for  the  space  into  which  I 
was  crammed  was  so  small  that  I  had  nearly 
been  suffocated.  AVe  arrived  at  Karlouski  in 
the  evening. 

This  settlement  consisted  of  about  thirty  In- 
dian families,  and  several  Russians  ;  the  latter 
lived  together  in  a  cazerne,  and  the  Indi?  js  in 
huts,  which  at  this  place  were  built  of  logs, 
wood  being  plenty.  I  was  carried  to  the  ca- 
zerne, where  I  was  laid  upon  a  bed  of  skins, 
and  treated  with  the  utmost  attention  ;  but  as 
the  place  afforded  no  medical  assistance,  my 
feet  and  hands  began  to  mortify,  and  my 
health  was  otherwise  so  much  impaired,  that 
I  was  frequently  in  a  state  of  delirium. 

We  remained  here  till  about  the  2oih  of  Fe- 
bruary, w hen  we  took  our  passage  in  a  baide- 
rai,  or  large  skin-boat,  bound  to  Alexandria, 
with  a  cargo  of  furs,  berries,  oil,  and  fish. — 


70     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

They  had  for  provisions  the  salmon-roe,  pre- 
served in  train  oil,  and  kept  in  bladders.  This 
is  by  them  esteemed  a  delicacy,  but  it  was  too 
strong  for  my  stomach. 

The  first  night  we  landed  at  a  village  con- 
structed differently  from  any  I  had  hitherto 
seen ;  the  whole  of  the  houses,  except  the 
roofs,  were  under  ground,  and  communicated 
with  each  other  by  a  subterraneous  passage. 
Bad  weather,  and  contrary  winds,  detained  us 
at  this  place  eleven  days. 

We  sailed  again  on  the  7th  of  March.  The 
W'ind  being  fair  we  hoisted  a  squaresail,  and 
ran  before  it  at  a  great  rate.  There  is  a  group 
of  small  islands  abreast  of  the  south  point  of 
North-Island,  at  which  place  the  tides  meet, 
causing  a  heavy  breaking  sea ;  and  as  the  bai- 
derai  was  deeply  loaded,  it  had  a  frightful  ap- 
pearance. The  frame  of  the  vessel  was  so 
extremely  slight,  that  when  between  the  waves, 
she  was  bent  into  a  deep  curve,  and  whilst  on 
the  top  of  the  wave  the  two  ends  were  as 
much  depressed.  I  w  as  in  constant  apprehen- 
sion that  the  frame  would  give  way.  She 
however,  went  through  the  sea  drier  than  a 
stiffer  vessel  would  have  done,  and  we  reach- 
ed the  harbour  of  Alexandria  on  the  9th,  with- 
out any  accident. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  n 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Author  carried  to  hospital — Both  his  feet  amputated — Ac- 
count of  the  party  left  at  Sannack — Employed  in  te^ich- 
ing  native  children  English — Account  of  Kodiak — Na- 
tives— Dress — Canoes — Superstition — Food — Author 
sails  in  the  ship  Neva  for  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  Alexandria  I  was  im- 
mediately carried  to  the  hospital.  The  sur- 
geon, on  examining  my  feet,  found  them  in  a 
state  of  mortification;  he  used  poultices  of 
rye,  and  other  applications,  for  several  days, 
in  hopes  of  effecting  a  cure.  On  the  second 
day  he  cut  off  one  of  my  fingers  ;  I  lost  a  joint 
of  another,  but  all  the  rest  recovered. 

Finding  no  favourable  symptoms  in  my 
feet,  he  informed  me  I  must  submit  to  lose 
them  in  order  to  save  my  life.  I  had  no  idea 
that  the  case  was  so  hopeless,  and  was  not 
prepared  for  such  an  alternative.  I  request- 
ed three  days  to  consider.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  I  told  him  I  had  made  up  my  mind,  and 
would  submit  to  the  operations.  According- 
ly he  amputated  one  of  them  on  the  fifteenth 
of  March,  and  the  other  on  the  seventeenth  of 


72     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

April  following.  Unfortunately  for  me  he 
cut  them  off  below  the  ankle  joint,  from  a 
wish  to  take  as  little  away  as  possible ;  the 
sores  extended  above  the  place,  and  have  ne- 
ver completely  healed.  By  the  month  of  Au- 
gust I  could  creep  about  on  my  hands  and 
knees. 

My  case  excited  great  compassion,  and  a 
subscription  was  raised  for  me  by  Governor 
Baranoff  and  the  officers  of  the  ships  that  lay 
in  the  harbour,  which  amounted  to  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  rubles. 

Whilst  in  the  hospital,  the  brig  arrived  that 
had  been  despatched  to  Sannack  for  the  goods 
saved  from  the  wreck.  With  her  came  Mr. 
Bander,  and  also  the  mate  and  boatswain  of 
the  Echpse,  who  had  left  Captain  O'Cain  in 
consequence  of  a  difference  that  had  taken 
place.  They  informed  me  that  he  had  near- 
ly completed  the  vessel,  which  was  a  brig 
of  about  seventy  tons,  and  that  he  would  find 
no  difficulty  in  manning  her  with  Russians 
and  Indians.  I  afterwards  heard  from  some 
Indians,  who  had  come  with  despatches 
from  Oonalaska,  that  the  vessel  was  launch- 
ed, and  had  sailed  from  Sannack.  What  be- 
came of  her  afterwards,  I  never  could  learn 


VOYAGE  ROUiND  THE  WORLD.  73 

with  certainty,  but  it  was  reported  that  she 
had  foundered  at  sea,  and  all  on  board  pe- 
rished. 

The  mate,  second  mate,  and  boatswain,  left 
Kodiak  in  a  ship  called  the  Neva,  bound  for 
Sitcha,  an  island  near  Norfolk  Sound,  where 
the  Russians  have  lately  established  a  settle- 
ment, from  whence,  I  understand,  they  went 
to  China  in  an  American  ship. 

Mr.  Baranoff,  the  governor,  went  to  Sitcha 
at  the  same  time,  leaving  Mr.  Bander  in 
charge  of  the  colony. 

When  I  had  tolerably  recovered  my  strength, 
I  was  employed  by  that  gentleman  in  teach- 
ing eight  Indian  children  the  English  lan- 
guage, in  order  that  they  might  be  qualified  to 
act  as  interpreters  to  the  American  ships  that 
frequently  touch  at  these  islands.  My  pupils 
were  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  thirteen, 
and  had  all  been  taught  the  Russian  lan- 
guage, of  which,  by  this  time,  I  understood  a 
little. 

1  had  to  labour  under  great  difficulties  for 
w  ant  of  books  and  grammars,  and  was  obli- 
ged to  form  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  in  the 
best  manner  I  was  able.  This  was  no  easy 
task  to  me,  both  from  want  of  practice,  and 


74     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  state  of  my  right  hand,  which  I  could 
with  difficLiky  open  or  shut.  I  however  suc- 
ceeded in  teaching  them  to  read  the  letters, 
but  my  farther  progress  was  interrupted  by 
my  departure  from  the  island.  I  have  very 
little  doubt  of  my  ultimate  success,  had  I  re- 
mained, for  the  boys  were  uncommonly  quick 
and  apt  to  learn. 

The  island  of  Kodiak  is  the  principal  pos- 
session of  the  Russians  on  the  northwest  coast, 
of  America.  It  is  above  a  hundred  miles  long, 
from  northeast  to  southwest,  and  about  fifty 
across  at  the  wider  part ;  but  its  breadth  is 
very  irregular,  the  shore  being  mdented  with 
deep  bays  and  inlets. 

The  climate  is  by  no  means  favourable ;  the 
snow  lies  on  the  ground  till  the  end  of  April, 
and  although  the  cold  in  winter  is  not  very  in- 
tense, the  season  is  seldom  free  from  fogs,  snow, 
or  rain.  The  summers  are  also  very  wet,  and 
subject  to  frequent  fogs. 

Kodiak  contains  but  a  scanty  population,  the 
inhabitants  are  scattered  through  eight  or  ten 
villages  upon  the  coast,  and  are  employed  in 
collecting  furs  for  the  Russian  American  Com- 
Danv»     These  villases,  in   general,  consist  of 


VOYAGE  KOUND  THE  WORLD.     75 

a  feW  Indian  families,  who  are  under  the 
charge  of  a  Russian  overseer. 

No  part  of  the  island  is  cultivated,  except  a 
garden  or  two  near  the  town,  and  a  little  bar- 
ley at  the  village  of  Superscoff.  It  contains, 
however,  a  great  deal  of  fine  timber,  chiefly 
larches,  spruces,  and  other  kinds  of  pine.  Ma- 
ny of  the  trees  are  large  enough  to  make  spars 
of  considerable  dimensions. 

Alexandria,*  the  ]3rincipal  town  on  the 
island,  and  the  residence  of  the  governor,  is 
situated  on  the  eastern  side  of  an  extensive 
bay.  It  possesses  an  excellent  harbour,  being 
well  sheltered  by  several  small  islands  that  lie 
to  the  southwest.  The  eastern  entrance,  which 
is  the  safest,  is  not  above  a  mile  wide,  and  is 
defended  by  a  battery  or  small  fort.  There  is 
also  an  entrance  to  the  west;  but  it  is  narrow 
and  intricate,  and  require?  a  leading  wind  to 
pass  through. 

The  town  consists  of  about  fifty  houses,  built 
of  logs,  the  seams  of  which  are  calked  with 
moss,  and  the  roofs  thatched  with  grass ;  they 
are,  in  general,  divided  into  three  apartments 

*  This  place  is  named  St.  Paul  by  Captain  Lisianski.  We  must 
suppose  that  since  his  visit  in  1803,  the  name  has  been  changed  in 
honour  of  the  present  Emperor.  Dr,  Langsdorf  merely  calls  it  the 
„ew  harbour  of  Kodiak. 


76  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

below,  and  as  many  on  the  upper  story.  They 
are  heated  by  stoves  or  ovens  ;  when  the  wood 
is  reduced  to  ashes,  the  vent  is  closed  by  means 
of  a  shde  fitted  for  the  purpose,  and  the  heated 
air  then  diffusing  itself  through  the  room,  ren- 
ders it  extremely  comfortable.  The  windows, 
instead  of  being  glazed,  are  covered  with 
pieces  of  the  gut  of  the  seal,  split  up  and  sew- 
ed together ;  this,  after  being  well  oiled,  is 
sti  etched  on  a  frame,  and  defended  from  the 
wind  by  cross-bars  on  each  side.  Talc  is  also 
used  for  the  same  purpose.  This  substance  is 
found  in  flakes  about  the  size  of  the  palm  of 
the  hand,  and  several  of  these  are  puttied  to- 
gether to  form  a  pane. 

About  sixty  Indians  reside  at  this  place  ;  they 
live  in  a  large  circulur  building  or  barrack, 
called  the  Cazerne  Aleuskoi. 

The  town  also  possesses  a  church,  a  barrack 
for  the  Russian  convicts,  a  school,  and  several 
storehouses  belonging  to  the  N.  W.  Company. 

At  the  school  the  children  of  the  natives  are 
taught  the  Russian  language,  wiiting,  and 
arithmetic ;  there  were  about  fifty  scholars, 
and  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  from  the  few  under 
jmy  charge,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  teaching 
them  these  acquirements. 


VOYAGE  ROUiND  THE  WORLD. 


i  ( 


Here,  as  at  Kamschatka,  most  of  the  Rus- 
sians are  married  to  native  women. 

This  is  the  principal  depot  of  the  American 
Company  ;*  the  fm-s  collected  at  the  different 
settlements  on  the  coast  are  sent  here,  and 
lodged  in  the  Company's  stores  till  ships  ar- 
rive to  carry  them  to  Kamschatka,  whence 
they  are  sent  to  China,  or  overland  to  St  Pe- 
tersburgh. 

The  natives,  in  return  for  the  furs  which 
they  procure  for  the  Company,  receive  cloth, 
powder  and  shot,  beads,  toys,  and  articles  of 
luxury,  such  as  rum,  tobacco,  and  snuff,  of 
which  they  are  immoderately  fond. 

A  considerable  trade  is  carried  on  with  the 
Americans  who  call  at  these  islands.  Their 
ships  take  on  board  a  certain  number  of  na- 
tives, with  their  baidarkas,  and  implements  of 
fishing  and  hunting.  They  then  proceed  to 
the  coast  of  California,  where  there  is  great 
abundance  of  fur  seals,  and  otters,  and  with 

*  This  Company  was  established  in  the  reign  of  the  Empress 
Catharine  \\.  for  the  purpose  of  giving-  solidity  and  effect  to  the  fur 
trade ;  and  the  better  to  promote  these  purposes,  all  the  islands 
lying  between  Kamschatka  and  the  Russian  part  of  the  northwest 
coast  of  America,  were  granted  them  in  perpetuity.  His  present 
majesty,  Alexander  I.  has  extended  the  privileges  of  the  Company, 
and  graciously  declared  himself  their  immediate  patron. 

Lisianskifp.  13, 

7* 


78     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  assistance  of  the  Indians,  generally  com- 
plete their  cargoes  in  two  seasons.  On  their 
return  the  American  Company  are  entitled  to 
a  certain  proportion  of  their  furs,  as  an  equi- 
valent for  the  labour  of  the  Indians.  The 
Eclipse  was  on  a  voyage  of  this  description, 
when  chartered  by  the  Russians  to  bring  a 
cargo  from  China. 

A  few  miles  to  the  west  of  Alexandria, 
there  is  another  village  called  Superscoflf,  the 
property  of  a  Russian  of  that  name,  who  had 
been  settled  there  above  fifteen  years.  From 
this  place  the  town  of  Alexandria  derives  its 
principal  supply  of  salmon  and  dried  fish. — 
They  had  a  herd  of  black  catde  consisthig  of 
seventy,  all  sprung  from  one  cow  which  Su- 
perscoff  brought  with  him.  The  milk,  butter, 
and  cheese,  used  at  the  town,  were  brought 
from  this  place. 

Their  stock  of  cattle,  having  been  but  re- 
cently introduced,  is  too  small  to  admit  of  their 
slaughtering  any,  and  bear's  flesh  is  the  only 
fresh  meat  consumed  upon  the  island.  The 
bears  are  either  shot  or  caught  in  traps ;  the 
trap  is  merely  a  piece  of  board,  about  two 
inches  thick,  and  two  feet  square,  stuck 
full  of  spikes.,  barbed,    and   kept   extremely 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  70 

sharp ;  this  is  set  in  their  paths,  and  covered 
with  dust;  from  the  weight  of  the  animal, 
when  he  sets  dow  n  his  foot,  the  spikes  enter 
it ;  to  assist  himself  in  pulHng  the  first  away, 
he  plants  another  on  the  trap,  and  continues 
his  exertions,  till,  at  last,  all  his  four  feet  are 
transfixed,  when  he  falls  on  his  back,  and  is 
taken. 

The  natives  of  the  Fox  islands,  or  Aleuskoi, 
as  they  are  called  by  the  Russians,  are  low 
in  stature,  broad  in  the  visage,  with  dark  eyes 
and  hair. 

The  principal  article  of  their  dress  is  a  large 
frock  called  a  parka,  made  of  fur  or  skin,  fre- 
quently of  the  skins  of  sea-fowls,  w^hich  they 
wear  with  the  feathers  out  during  the  day, 
and  next  their  skin  at  night.  This  piece  of 
dress  is  nearly  the  same  in  both  sexes.  When 
at  sea,  they  wear  a  frock  of  another  kind, 
called  a  camelengka,  made  of  the  gut  of  the 
seal,  to  which  a  hood  is  attached,  and  tied 
close  round  the  face,  the  sleeves  being  equally 
tight  at  the  wrist.  Upon  their  limbs  they  fre- 
quently wear  boots  and  breeches  in  one  piece, 
made  of  seal  hide,  over  which  the  camelengka 
15  fastened  close,  so  that  tlieir  di*ess  is  perfectly 
water- proof. 


80     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD- 

They  are  extremely  fond  of  ornaments, 
particularly  beads,  with  which  the  women 
decorate  themselves  in  great  profusion,  sew- 
ing them  round  the  neck,  skirts,  and  wrists  of 
their  skin  frocks.  They  also  wear  them  in 
their  ears,  or  suspend  them  from  a  hole  made 
in  their  under  lip,  and  sometimes  hang  them 
round  each  end  of  a  bone  about  five  inches 
long,  which  they  pass  through  the  grisde  of 
the  nose,  called  by  sailors  their  spritsail-yard. 
They  do  not  tattoo  themselves  like  the  Sand- 
wich  islanders,  but  they  often  paint  or  rather 
daub  their  faces  in  streaks,  with  red  ochre  and 
train  oil. 

Their  canoes  are  made  of  the  skin  of  sea- 
lions,  stretched  over  slight  wooden  frames  ; 
Those  of  the  largest  size,  called  baiderais,  are 
open,  and  can  contain  sixty  or  seventy  people  ; 
the  smaller  kind,  called  baidarkas,  being  quite 
close,  have  a  hole  in  the  covering,  or  deck,  for 
each  sitter,  and  carry  one,  two,  or  three  per- 
sons. They  are  rowed  either  with  double- 
bladed  paddles,  which  are  held  by  the  middle, 
or  by  single-bladed  ones,  with  crutch  handles, 
which  are  shifted  to  each  side  alternately  ; 
the  rowers  sit  with  their  faces  to  the  bow, 
and  pull  them  whh  great  swiftness.     It  is  won- 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     81 

derful  what  long  voyages  they  make  in  these 
slight  boats  ;  several  of  them  came  from  Oo- 
nalaska  to  Kodiak  during  my  stay  in  that 
island.  No  water  can  get  into  them  in  the 
roughest  weather,  for  the  camelengka,  a  gut 
frock,  which  Indians  wear  when  at  sea,  is 
stuffed  tight  round  them  at  the  hole.  From 
their  flat  construction,  and  extreme  lightness, 
the  weight  of  the  people  sitting  in  these  canoes, 
renders  them  top  heavy,  and  many  accidents 
arise  from  their  oversetting.  In  this  ^respect, 
the  single-holed  ones  are  much  the  safest,  for 
even  when  overset,  a  slight  exertion  is  suffi- 
cient to  right  them. 

In  catching  seals,  and  other  amphibious  ani- 
imals,  these  people  show  great  dexterity  and 
ingenuity.  Concealing  themselves  behind 
rocks,  they  decoy  them  by  throwing  a  seal 
skin,  blown  out  like  a  bladder,  into  the  sea. 
To  this  is  fixed  a  line  made  of  the  sinew  of 
the  whale,  by  which  they  draw^  it  to  them, 
when  it  is  followed  by  the  seals,  who  take  it 
for  an  animal  of  their  own  species.  As  soon 
as  within  reach,  they  are  killed  with  spears^  or 
bows  and  arrows. 

The  natives,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
are  converts  to  the  Greek  church,  but  their 


82     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLB. 

religion  consists  in  little  more  than  crossing 
themselves,  whenever  they  enter  a  house ;  they 
are  however,  abundantly  superstitious,  and 
put  complete  faith  in  the  predictions  of  their 
shamans,  or  astrologers.  Whilst  1  was  there 
an  eclipse  of  the  moon  took  place,  on  which 
occasion  they  confidently  affii-med  that  it  was 
the  sign  of  great  events  happening  in  Europe. 
Indeed,  not  only  the  natives,  but  the  Russians 
themselves  seemed  to  be  of  the  same  opinion  ; 
and  thp  next  ship  bringing  intelligence  of  war 
between  England  and  Russia,  served  to  con- 
firm their  belief. 

The  food  of  the  natives  consists  of  fish,  fresh 
or  dried,  principally  salmon  ;  blubber,  or 
whale  fat ;  whale  and  seal  oil ;  the  flesh  of 
seals  and  other  amphibious  animals ;  and  ber- 
ries preserved  in  oil. 

In  consequence  of  this  diet,  as  well  as  the 
state  of  filth  in  which  they  live,  they  are  very 
liable  to  the  scurvy ;  indeed,  few  of  them  are 
free  from  ulcers  and  scorbutic  eruptions. 

On  the  return  of  the  Neva  from  Sitcha,  she 
was  ordered  to  be  prepared  for  a  voyage  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  was  provided  with  a 
supply  of  adzes,  hatchets,  teeth  of  the  sea-horse, 
and  other  articles  suited  for  that  market. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     83 

It  would  appear  that  the  Russians  had  de- 
termined to  form  a  settlement  upon  these  is- 
lands ;  at  least,  preparations  were  made  for 
that  purpose ;  and  I  was  informed  by  the 
commandant,  that  if  I  chose,  I  might  get  a 
situation  as  interpreter.  The  ship  had  a  house 
in  frame  on  board,  and  intimation  was  given 
that  volunteers  would  be  received  ;  none,  how- 
ever, offered  ;  and  I  never  observed  that  any 
other  steps  were  taken  in  this  affair. 

Being  sure  of  meeting  with  American  ves- 
sels at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in  which  I  might 
get  to  Europe  or  America,  I  expressed  a  desire 
to  embrace  this  opportunity  of  quitting  Kodiak, 
and  was  accordingly  permitted  to  take  my 
passage  in  the  ship. 

The  Neva  had  a  crew  of  seventy-five  sea- 
men, belonging  to  the  Russian  imperial  service, 
and  was  commanded  by  captain  Hageimeister, 
who  had  been  bred  in  the  British  navy,  and 
could  speak  English  fluently.  The  ship  her- 
self was  British  built,  and  had  made  a  voyage 
round  the  world.* 


*  This  ship  sailed  round  the  world  in  the  Russian  expedition  un- 
der captain  Krusenstern,  and  was  commanded  by  captain  Lisianski, 
who  has  published  an  account  of  the  voyag-e.  He  talks  in  raptures 
of  her  good  qualities.     "  As  to  the  Neva  itself,  I  shall  be  excused  if, 


84  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

The  preparations  for  the  expedition  being 
completed,  we  left  the  harbour  on  the  1 1th  of 
December,  O.  S.  with  a  fair  wind,  and  soon 
lost  sight  of  the  island. 


with  the  warmth  of  a  sailor,  I  declare,  that  there  never  sailed  a  more 
love!}- vessel,  or  one  more  complete  and  perfect  in  all  its  parts.  So 
Utile  had  it  suffered  from  the  length  of  the  voyage,  and  even  from 
the  disaster  of  striking  on  the  coral  rocks  at  our  newly  discovered 
island,  that,  in  a  few  weeks,  ts  was  again  ready  for  sea,  and  wa» 
despatched  to  the  north  west  coast  of  America. 

Lisiaiukrs  Voyage,  p.  317 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     85 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

Voyage  to  Sandwich  Islands— Make  Owhyhee— Touch 
at  Mowee— Proceed  to  Wahoo— Tamaahmaah  and  other 
chiefs  come  on  board — Author  resides  three  months  with 
the  King— Account  of  his  mode  of  life — Remove  to  the 
house  of  Isaac  Davis — Account  of  him — Death  of 
Terremytee,  the  King's  brother,  and  transactions  that 

took  plact  on  that  occasion — Remarkable  water-spout 

Author  receives  a  grant  of  land  from  the  King,  to  which 
he  femoves- -Residence  there— Arrival  of  the  ship  Duke 
of  Portland — Anecdotes  of  the  King — Departure  from 
the  Sandwich  Islands. 

We  proceeded  on  our  voyage  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  and  enjoyed  fine  weather,  with 
favourable  winds. 

No  land  was  seen  from  the  time  we  quitted 
the  Fox  Islands,  till  the  27th  of  January. 

On  that  mornins;,  at  day  break,  we  discov- 
ered the  mountains  of  Owhyhee,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  ten  leagues.  In  the  afternoon,  we 
were  close  in  with  the  land,  and  coasted  along 
the  north  side  of  the  island. 

The    breeze   being    light,    several    canoes 

came  from   the  shore   with  fresh  provisions. 

We  stood  off  and  on  for  some  time,  carrying 

on  a  brisk  trade  with  the  natives:   anionssl 

8  ^ 


86     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Other  things  supplied  by  them,  we  were  sur- 
prised to  find  sheep  and  goats,  the  breed  of 
which,  although  but  recently  introduced,  has 
increased  so  rapidly  that  they  already  form  an 
article  of  trade. 

We  passed  the  foot  of  Mouna-kaa,*  one 
of  the  highest  mountains  in  the  world.  The 
sides  are  extremely  steep,  and  although  situ- 
ated within  the  tropics,  the  summit  is  per- 
petually covered  with  snow^ ;  a  narrow  tract 
of  level  ground  lies  between  the  base  of  the 
mountain  and  the  sea,  terminating  in  high 
abrupt  clifts  ;  presenting  at  a  distance  a  most 
barren  appearance.  On  a  nearer  approach, 
however,  we  could  observe  numerous  patches 
of  cultivated  land,  and  the  lower  parts  of  the 
mountain  covered  with  wood.  Farther  to 
the  west,  the  plains  are  of  greater  extent,  the 
country  well  wooded,  and  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation ;    with  many  villages  and  houses, 


"  Captain  King  estimates  the  height  of  this  mountain  at  not  less 
than  18.400  feet;  exceeding  the  peak  of  Tenerifle,  according  to  the 
computation  of  the  Chevalier  Borda,  by  nearly  6,000  feet.  The 
result  of  a  trigonometrical  measurement  by  the  latter,  gives  1,742 
toises,  as  the  altitude  of  that  mouutan  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
J^ide  Cook's  Third  Voyage,  vol  iii.  p.  103.  an(j  Voyage  fait  par  onhf. 
fhi  Roi,  an  1771—2,  torn.  i.  p   119. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  8^ 

presenting  every  appearance  of  a  numerous 
and  industrious  population. 

Mouna-roa,*  one  of  the  mountains  in  the 
interior,  is  a  volcano  ;  a  few  years  before  this 
time  a  violent  eruption  took  place,  when  it 
sent  forth  a  stream  of  lava  which  ran  into  the 
sea.  Isaac  Davis,  with  whom  I  afterwards 
resided,  and  who  had  gone  in  a  canoe  to  wit- 
ness it,  informed  me  that  where  the  lava  joined 
the  sea,  the  heat  was  so  intense  that  he  could  not 
approach  nearer  than  fifty  yards.  We  did  not 
see  any  flame  or  smoke  isssuing  from  the  crater. 

We  made  sail  in  the  evening,  and  reached 
Mowee  the  following  day. 

Whilst  running  along  the  southeast  side  of 
the  island,  several  canoes  came  off  with  re- 
freshments. In  one  of  them  was  a  white  man, 
calling  himself  Joseph  Wynn,  an  American. 
He  had  resided  several  years  upon  the  island, 
where  he  had  a  family,  and  cultivated  a  piece 
of  land,  which  had  been  granted  to  him  by 
Crymakoo,  a  powerful  chief 

I  afterwards  learned  that  his  real  name  was 
Angus  Maccallum,  a  native  of  Houstoun,  in 

*  According  to  the  admeasurement  of  Dr  Horner,  astronomer  to  the 
Russian  expedition  under  captain  Krusenstern,  in  1804,  the  height  of 
of  Mouna-roa  is  2,254  toises.    Krusenstern's  Voyage,  vol.  1.  p.  193, 


88  VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

Renfrewshire.  Having  served  with  his  bro- 
ther in  the  Diana  frigate,  and  coming  from  the 
same  part  of  the  country,  a  great  degree  of 
intimacy  naturally  took  place  between  us,  and 
we  had  much  conversation  together. 

Amongst  other  things,  I  told  him  that  T  un- 
derstood the  Russians  had  some  intention  of 
forming  a  setdement  on  the  Sandwich  islands. 
This  reached  the  captain's  ears  ;  and  he  gave 
me  a  severe  reprimand,  for  having,  as  he 
expressed  it,  betrayed  their  secrets.  He  de- 
sired me  to  say  no  more  on  the  subject  in 
future,  otherwise  I  should  not  be  permitted  to 
quit  the  ship. 

I  know  not  what  obstacle  firevented  this 
plan  from  being  carried  into  effect;  but  al- 
though the  Neva  remained  several  months  in 
the  country,  I  never  heard  any  more  of  the 
settlement. 

We  came  to  anchor  in  the  harbour  of  La- 
hina.  The  captain  went  ashore  and  retiu'ned 
with  a  supply  of  fresh  provisions.  I  wished 
much  to  have  accompanied  him,  but  the  surf 
rendered  the  landing  too  difficult  for  one  in 
my  helpless  condition. 

Tamaahmaah,  king  of  Owhyhee,  Mowee, 
Wahoo,   and    the  adjoining  islands,  resided 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  89 

some  years  at  this  place.  His  house,  which 
we  could  distinctly  see  from  the  ship,  was 
built  of  brick,  after  the  European  manner.  Of 
late,  he  has  fixed  his  residence  at  Wahoo  ;  up- 
on learning  of  which,  the  captain  determined 
to  proceed  thither. 

The  island  of  Mowee  is  of  great  height.  At^ 
a  distance  it  appears  like  two  islands  ;  a  low 
flat  piece  of  land  running  completely  across, 
and  dividing  it  into  two  peninsulas.  Maccal- 
lum  informed  me  that  it  was  very  fertile ;  that 
provisions  were  abundant,  and  much  cheaper 
than  at  either  Owhyhee  or  Wahoo. 

We  weighed  on  the  morning  of  the  29th, 
and  passing  between  the  islands  of  Morokai 
and  Ranai,  reached  the  harbour  of  Hanaroora, 
on  the  south  side  of  Wahoo,  the  same  evening. 

A  number  of  natives  came  off,  as  usual,  the 
moment  the  ship  hove  in  sight.  King  Ta- 
maahmaah  was  in  a  large  double  canoe  ;  on 
his  coming  along  side,  he  sent  his  interpreter 
on  board  to  announce  his  arrival. 

The  captain  immediately  v^  ent  to  the  gang- 
way to  receive  his  majesty,  and  shook  hands 
with  him  when  he  came  upon  deck. 

He  was,  on  this  occasion,  dressed  as  a  Eu- 
ropean, in  a  blue  coat  and  gray  pantaloons. 


90  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Immediately  on  his  coming  aboard,  the  king 
entered  into  earnest  conversation  with  the 
captain.  Amongst  other  questions,  he  asked 
whether  the  ship  was  Enghsh  or  American  ? 
being  informed  that  she  was  Russian,  he  an- 
swered, "  Meitei,  meitei,"  or,  very  good.  A 
handsome  scarlet  cloak,  edged  and  ornament- 
ed with  ermine,  was  presented  to  him  from 
the  governor  of  the  Aleutian  islands.  After 
trying  it  on,  he  gave  it  to  his  attendants  to  be 
taken  on  shore.  I  never  saw  him  use  it  after- 
wards.  In  other  canoes  came  Tamena,  one 
of  his  queens,  Crymakoo,  his  brother-in-law, 
and  other  chiefs  of  inferior  rank. 

My  appearance  attracted  the  notice,  and 
excited  the  compassion  of  the  queen ;  and 
finding  it  was  my  intention  to  remain  upon 
the  islands,  she  invited  me  to  take  up  my  resi- 
dence in  her  house.  I  gladly  availed  myself 
of  this  offer,  at  which  she  expressed  much 
pleasure  ;  it  being  a  great  object  of  ambition 
amongst  the  higher  ranks  to  have  white  people 
to  reside  with  them.  When  the  ship  was 
brought  to  anchor,  she  sent  me  ashore  in  one 
of  her  canoes. 

Captain  Hagemeister  recommended  me  at 
the  same  time  to  the  notice  of  the  king,  by  in- 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     91 

foraiing  him,  that  I  could  not  only  make  and 
repair  the  sails  of  his  vessels,  but  also  weave 
the  cloth  of  which  they  were  made. 

The  king  assured  him  that  I  should  be 
treated  with  the  utmost  kindness.  It  will  be 
seen  in  the  sequel  how  well  he  performed  his 
promise. 

Upon  landing  I  was  much  struck  with  the 
beauty  and  fertility  of  the  country,  so  different 
from  the  barrenness  of  the  Fox  islands.  The 
village  of  Hanaroora,  which  consisted  of  sev- 
eral hundred  houses,  is  well  shaded  with  large 
cocoa-nut  trees.  The  king's  residence,  built 
close  upon  the  shore,  and  surrounded  by  a  pal- 
lisade  upon  the  land  side,  was  distinguished  by 
the  British  colours  and  a  battery  of  sixteen  car- 
riage guns,  belonging  to  his  ship,  the  Lily  Bird, 
which  at  this  time  lay  unrigged  in  the  harbour. 
This  palace  consisted  merely  of  a  range  of 
huts,  viz.  the  king's  eating-house,  his  sleeping- 
house,  the  queen's  house,  a  store,  powder- 
magazine,  and  guard -house,  with  a  few  huts 
for  the  attendants,  all  constructed  after  the 
fashion  of  the  country. 

At  a  short  distance  were  two  extensive  store- 
houses, built  of  stone,  which  contained  the  Eu- 
ropean articles  belonging  to  the  king. 


92     VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

I  was  conducted  to  the  house  occupied  by 
the  two  queens.  It  consisted  of  one  large 
apartment,  spread  with  mats ;  at  one  end  of 
which  the  attendants  of  both  sexes  slept,  and 
at  the  other  the  queens  occasionally  slept  when 
the  king  was  in  the  moral. 

They  and  their  attendants  always  eat  here, 
and  Tamena  wished  me  to  join  them ;  but  as 
I  had  been  informed  by  Crymakoo,  that  4f  I 
did  so,  I  should  not  be  allowed  to  eat  with 
men,  1  resolved  to  decline  her  offer. 

The  Neva  remained  in  the  harbour  three 
months,  during  which  time  I  ate  my  victuals 
on  board.     At  the  end  of  that  period,  having 
completed  a  cargo  of  provisions,  consisting  of 
salted  pork  and  dried  taro  root,  she  sailed  for 
Kodiak  and  Kamschatka.     I  was  then  invited 
by  the  king  to  take  my  meals  in  his  eating-house, 
and  at  the  same  time  he  desired  a  young  Ame- 
rican, of  the  name  of  William  Moxely,  a  native 
of  Norfolk  in  Virginia,  who  understood  the 
language,  to  eat  along  with  me,  to  act  as  my 
I'     interpreter.     The  king's  mode  of  life  was  very 
simple ;  he  breakfasted  at  eight,  dined  at  noon, 
and  supped  at  sunset. 

His  principal  chiefs  being  always  about  his 
person,  there  were  generally  twenty  or  thirty 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  93 

persons  present  ;  after  being  seated  upon 
mats  spread  on  the  floor,  at  dinner  a  dish  of 
poe,  or  taro  pudding,  was  set  before  each  of 
them,  which  they  ate  with  their  fingers  instead 
of  spoons.  This  fare,  with  salt  fish  and  con- 
secrated pork  from  the  morai,  formed  the 
whole  of  the  repast,  no  other  food  being  per- 
mitted in  the  king's  house.  A  plate,  knife 
and  fork,  with  boiled  potatoes,  were,  however, 
always  set  down  before  Moxely  and  me,  by 
his  majesty's  orders.  He  concluded  his  meal 
by  drinking  half  a  glass  of  rum  ;  but  the  bottle 
was  immediately  sent  away,  the  liquor  being 
tabooed,  or  interdicted  to  his  guests.  The 
breakfast  and  supper  consisted  of  fish  and 
sw  eet  potatoes. 

The  respect  paid  to  the  king's  person,  to 
his  house,  and  even  to  his  food,  formed  a  re- 
markable contrast  to  the  simplicity  of  his  mode 
of  living. 

Whenever  he  passed,  his  subjects  were 
obliged  to  uncover  their  heads  and  shoul- 
ders. The  same  ceremony  took  place  upon 
their  entering,  or  even  passing  his  residence ; 
and  every  house  vvhich  he  entered  was  ever 
after  honoured  with  the  same  marks  of  re- 
spect.    Once,  when  employed  in   the  house 


^4      VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

of  Isaac  Davis,  making  a  loom  for  the  king, 
I  observed  him  passing,  and  being  ignorant  of 
this  custom,  requested  him  to  enter  and  ob- 
serve my  progress  ;  but  he  declined  doing  so, 
informing  me  of  the  consequence.  He,  there- 
fore, seated  himself  at  the  door,  till  I  brought 
out  my  work  for  his  inspection. 

When  his  food  was  carrying  from  the  cook- 
ing-house, every  person  within  hearing  of  the 
call  Noho,  or,  sit;  down,  given  by  the  bearers, 
was  obliged  to  uncover  himself,  and  squat 
down  on  his  hams.* 

This  ceremony  was  particularly  inconveni- 
ent w^hen  the  water  used  in  the  king's  house 
was  carried  past ;  there  being  none  of  a  good 
quality  near  Hanaroora,  ii  was  necessary  to 
bring  it  from  the  mountains,  a  distance  of  five 
miles.  The  calabash  carriers  were  obliged, 
when  any  person  appeared  in  sight,  to  call  out 
Noho.     They,  however,  ran  past  as  quick  as 


"  Scotice,  "  on  his  hunlcers.''  The  emphatic  word  used  by  the 
author  in  describing  this  particular  mode  of  genuflexion,  and  which 
has  no  English  synonyme  into  which  it  can  be  translated,  is  thus  de- 
fined by  Jamieson  :  "  to  sit  with  the  hips  hanging  downwards,  and 
the  weight  of  the  body  depending  on  the  knees." — Scot.  Diet,  verb 
Hunkers. 

'-  Wi'  ghastly  e'e,  poor  Twecdle-dee, 
Upon  his  hvnkers  bended,  '^BuRfrs. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     95 

they  could,  not  to  detain  his  majesty's  sub- 
jects in  so  unpleasant  an  attitude. 

White  people  were  not  required  to  pay  these 
honors,  though  scrupulously  exacted  from  the 
natives. 

Tamaahmaah  was  most  attentive  in  per- 
forming the  duties  of  religion,  and  constantly 
attended  the  moral  on  the  taboo  days,  which 
took  place  about  four  times  each  month.  The 
ceremonies  lasted  one  day  and  two  nights ; 
during  which  time  no  person  was  permitted 
to  pass  the  bounds  of  the  morai. 

When  the  king  was  absent  on  these  occa- 
sions, I  did  not  experience  the  same  attention 
as  at  other  times ;  the  attendants  became  very 
remiss  in  providing  my  dinner,  and  I  w-as 
sometimes  obliged  to  go  w  ithout  it  altogether. 

I  accompanied  the  king  once  to  the  morai ; 
but  not  rehshing  the  confinement,  and  being 
unwilling  to  make  complaints,  I  removed, 
about  the  beginning  of  May,  to  the  house  of 
Isaac  Davis,  a  Welshman,  w^ho  had  been  about 
twenty  years  upon  the  island,  and  remained 
with  him  till  the  king  gave  me  a  grant  of  land 
about  six  months  afterwards. 

Mr.  Davis  arrived  at  the  Sandwich  islands 
as  mate  of  a  small  American  schooner.     The 


9G  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

captain,  a  vei^y  young  man,  having  incau- 
tiously permitted  the  natives  to  go  on  board, 
without  any  restriction,  a  chief,  of  the  name 
of  Tamahmotoo,  observing  this,  planned  her 
capture.  For  which  purpose  a  number  of 
natives,  under  various  pretences,  crowded 
into  the  vessel,  and,  upon  a  signal  being  given, 
threw  the  whole  crew,  five  in  number,  into 
the  sea.  Davis,  being  an  excellent  swimmer, 
laid  hold  of  one  of  the  canoes,  from  which, 
however,  he  was  beat  off  by  paddles.  He 
swam  to  another,  where  the  natives  also  at- 
tempted to  beat  him  off;  but  being  a  stout, 
athletic  man,  he  was  able  to  keep  his  hold. 
Having  no  arms,  they  attempted  to  put  him 
to  death,  by  holding  him  under  the  water, 
and  beating  him  with  their  paddles ;  and  also 
endeavoured  to  strangle  him,  by  placing  his 
neck  across  one  of  the  beams  of  the  canoe, 
and  trampling  upon  him.  But  by  this  time 
the  rest  of  the  crew  having  been  destroyed, 
and  the  schooner  taken  possession  of,  they 
relented,  and  ceased  to  torment  him  any 
farther.  He  was  carried  ashore  blind,  and 
almost  lifeless,  and  it  was  eighteen  months 
before  he  recovered  his  sight.  He  told  me, 
that,  before  this  time,  he  had  never  believed 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     97 

in  the  existence  of  a  God,  and  had  led  a  very 
sinful  life;  that,  upon  the  near  prospect  of 
deaths  the  idea  of  his  offences  filled  him  with 
terror ;  and  that  he  tried  to  repeat  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  felt  himself  strengthened  after 
doing  so. 

Tamaahmaah,  who  was  at  a  distant  part  of 
the  island,  was  extremely  indignant  at  Tamah- 
motoo  when  he  heard  of  this  outrage. 

He  took  the  vessel  from  him  for  the  purpose 
of  restoring  her  to  her  owners,  and  showed  the 
utmost  kindness  to  Davis.  Nearly  at  the  same 
time  another  Englishman,  of  the  name  of 
Young,  was  detained  upon  the  island. 

These  two  constantly  attached  themselves 
to  Tamaahmaah ;  and,  from  then-  knowledge 
of  fire-arms,  proved  of  essential  service  in  the 
expeditions  in  which  he  conquered  Mowee, 
Morotoi,  and  Wahoo. 

They  were  rewarded,  by  being  raised  to  the 
rank  of  chiefs,  and  received  extensive  grants 
of  land. 

When  Tamaahmaah  removed  to  Wahoo, 
Davis  accompanied  him,  and  he  left  Young  as 
governor  of  Owhyhee.  These  two  he  always 
treated  with  greater  confidence  than  any  of 
the  native  chiefs.    Davis  had  extensive  grants 


H  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

of  land  on  several  of  the  islands.  Upon  Wahoo 
alone  he  had  estates  on  which  were  four  or 
five  hundred  people,  who  cultivated  the  land, 
and  paid  him  a  rent  in  kind.  These  were 
exempted  from  the  taxes  paid  by  the  other 
chiefs  for  their  lands ;  but  Davis  frequently 
made  the  king  presents  of  feather  cloaks,  and 
other  valuable  articles. 

He  was  married  to  a  native  woman,  by 
w  hom  he  had  no  children.  By  a  former  wife 
he  had  three,  two  of  whom  were  left  under 
the  charge  of  Mr.  Young  of  Owhyhee.  His 
house  was  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
natives  only  by  the  addition  of  a  shed  in  front 
to  keep  off  the  sun ;  within,  it  was  spread 
w  ith  mats,  but  had  no  furniture,  except  two 
benches  to  sit  upon.  He  lived  very  much  like 
the  natives,  and  had  acquired  such  a  taste 
for  poe,  that  he  preferred  it  to  any  other  food. 
We  had,  hovrever,  at  all  times  abundance  of 
pork,  goat's  flesh,  and  mutton,  and  frequently 
beef  sent  by  Young  from  Owhyhee  ;  and  in  the 
mornings  and  evenings  we  had  tea.  His  wealth, 
consisting  of  mats,  feathers,  and  cloth,  the  pro- 
duce of  the  island,  and  a  large  assortment  of 
Eurooean  articles,  which  he  had  acquired  by 
trading  with  the  ships  that  touched  here  ;  these 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.     99 

were  contained  in  a  large  storehouse,  built  of 
stone,  adjoining  his  dwelling. 

My  first  employment  was  to  overhaul  the 
sails  of  the  king's  vessels,  and  to  repair  such  as 
were  out  of  order.  After  working  tu  o  or  three 
months  at  this,  he  desired  me  to  make  some 
canvass. 

Having  informed  him  that  a  loom  was  ne- 
cessary, he  ordered  Boyd,  his  principal  car- 
penter, to  make  one.  This,  however,  Boyd 
decHned,  from  an  illiberal  notion  held  by 
many  of  the  white  people,  that  the  natives 
should  be  taught  nothing  that  would  render 
them  independent  of  strangers.  He  told  the 
king  he  did  not  know  how  to  make  looms ; 
upon  which  I  undertook  to  make  one  myself; 
although,  by  so  doing,  I  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  many  of  my  countrymen.  Davis 
had  a  native  servant  called  Jack,  who  worked 
as  a  Tailor,  and  was  a  very  handy  fellow. 
This  man  showed  much  anxiety  to  observe 
how  I  proceeded ;  but  his  master  told  me  by 
no  means  to  allow  him,  as  he  was  so  quick 
he  Vv'ould  soon  learn  to  make  a  loom  himself. 
When  I  said  I  had  no  wish  to  make  it  a  secret, 
he  replied,  that  if  the  natives  could  weave 
cloth,  and  supply  themselves,  ships  would  have 


lOO    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

HO  encouragement  to  call  at  the  islands.  Ano- 
ther instance  of  this  narrow  way  of  thinking 
occuiTed,  when  a  brother  of  the  queen's,  whose 
name  I  do  not  remember,  but  who  was  usually 
called  by  the  white  people,  John  Adams,  wish- 
ed me  to  teach  him  to  read,  Davis  would  not 
permit  me,  observing,  "  they  will  soon  know 
more  than  ourselves." 

The  making  of  the  loom,  from  want  of  as- 
sistance, and  want  of  practice,  proved  a  very 
tedious  job.  I  succeeded  tolerably  well  at 
last ;  and  having  procured  a  supply  of  thread, 
spun  by  the  women  from  the  fibres  of  the  plant 
of  which  their  fishing  lines  are  made,  I  began 
my  operations.*  After  working  a  small  piece,  I 
took  it  to  the  king  as  a  specimen.  He  approved 
of  it  in  every  respect  except  breadth,  which 
w^as  only  about  half  a  yard,  saying,  he  wished 
it  made  wide  enough  for  an  awning  to  a  ship. 
This  was  beyond  my  power ;  but  I  told  him  I 
could  make  it  a  yard  wide,  and  then  sow  it  up 
into  any  size.  He  accordingly  ordered  me  to 
make  a  loom  of  the  necessary  dimensions. — 
The  small  piece  I  wove  he  kept,  and  showed 
it  to  every  captain  that  arrived  as  a  specimen  of 

*  The  author  was  obliged  to  employ  a  boy  to  work  the  treadles 
n%t  bein"^  able  to  work  them  himself  from  the  loss  of  his  fe^t. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  lOl 

the  manufacture  of  the  country.  I  had  nearly 
finished  the  other  loom,  when  the  ship  arrived 
in  which  I  quitted  the  island. 

Dm'ing  the  time  I  resided  with  Davis,  Ter- 
remytee,  the  king's  brother,  died.  His  body 
lay  in  state  for  a  few  days,  in  the  morai ;  and 
was  afterwards  buried,  according  to  custom, 
in  a  secret  manner. 

The  public  mourning  that  took  place  on 
this  occasion  was  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature, 
that,  had  I  not  been  an  eye-witness,  I  could 
not  have  given  credit  to  it. 

The  natives  cut  off  their  hair,  and  went 
about  completely  naked.  Many  of  them, 
particularly  the  women,  disfigured  themselves 
by  knocking  out  their  front  teeth,  and  brand- 
ing their  faces  with  red  hot  stones,  and  the 
small  end  of  calabashes,  which  they  held 
burning  to  their  faces  till  a  circular  mark 
was  produced  ;  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  a 
general,  I  believe  I  may  say  an  universal,  pub- 
lic prostitution  of  the  women  took  place;  the 
queens  and  the  widow  of  the  deceased  alone 
exempted. 

When  the   captain  of  a  ship  that  lay  in 
the  harbour  remonstrated  with  the  king  up- 
on these  disgraceful  scenes,  he  answered  that 
9^ 


102         VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

such  was  the  law,  and  he  could  not  pre^xnt 
them. 

About  this  time  an  immense  water-spout 
broke  in  the  harbour.  It  w  as  first  observed 
in  the  south,  about  noon.  The  day  was  fine, 
with  a  clear  atmosphere,  and  nearly  calm. 
When  I  saw  it  first,  it  appeared  about  the 
tliickness  of  a  ship's  mast,  reaching  from  the 
sea  to  a  heavy  dark  cloud  that  hung  imme- 
diately over  it.  It  approached  slowly,  the 
cloud  gradually  increasing  in  size.  When  it 
came  near,  we  could  observe  the  water 
ascending  in  a  spiral  direction,  and  the  sea 
round  its  base  boiling  up  in  great  agitation. 
At  this  time  it  seemed  about  the  thickness  of 
a  hogshead.  The  tide  was  fortunately  out  ; 
and  upon  crossing  the  reef,  about  an  hour 
after  its  first  appearance,  the  column  broke, 
and  such  a  mass  of  water  fell,  that  the  sea 
in  the  harbour  was  raised  at  least  three  feet 
upon  the  beach.  No  squall  was  experienced, 
nor  did  any  rain  fall.  Hundreds  of  dead  fish 
were  picked  up  upon  the  reef,  and  along  shore 
after  it  broke.  I  have  seen  several  water- 
spouts at  sea,  and  one  that  was  nearly  on 
board  the  ship  in  which  I  was,  but  none  of 
them  at  all  equal  in  magnitude  to  this. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  1Q3 

The  natives  quitted  their  houses,  and  fled 
with  the  utmost  precipitation  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  that  in  which  it  approached.  I 
was  informed,  that  a  few  years  before,  one 
had  broken  on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  by 
which  a  number  of  houses  were  washed  away 
and  many  people  drowned. 

In  the  month  of  November  the  king  was 
pleased  to  grant  me  about  sixty  acres  of  land, 
situated  upon  the  Wymummee,  or  Pearl-wa- 
ter, an  inlet  of  the  sea  about  twelve  miles  to 
the  west  of  Hanaroora.  I  immediately  re- 
moved thither ;  and  it  being  Macaheite  time, 
during  which  canoes  are  tabooed,  I  was  car- 
ried on  men's  shoulders.  We  passed  by  foot- 
paths, winding  through  an  extensive  and  fer- 
tile plain,  the  whole  of  which  is  in  the  high- 
est state  of  cultivation.  Every  stream  was 
carefully  embanked,  to  supply  water  for  the 
taro  beds.  Where  there  was  no  water,  the 
land  was  under  crops  of  yams  and  sweet  po- 
tatoes. The  roads  and  numerous  houses  are 
shaded  by  cocoa-nut  trees,  and  the  sides  of 
the  mountains  covered  with  wood  to  a  great 
height.  We  halted  two  or  three  times,  and 
were  treated  by  the  natives  with  the  utmost 
hospitality.     My  farm,  called  Wymannoo,  was 


104  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

upon  the  east  side  of  the  river,  four  or  five 
miles  from  its  mouth.  Fifteen  people,  with 
their  families,  resided  upon  it,  who  cultivated 
the  ground  as  my  servants.  There  were  three 
houses  upon  the  property :  but  I  found  it  most 
agreeable  to  live  with  one  of  my  neighbours, 
and  get  what  I  wanted  from  my  own  land. 
This  person's  name  was  William  Stevenson, 
a  native  of  Borrowstounness.  He  had  been 
a  convict,  and  escaped  from  New  South 
Wales  ;  but  was,  notwithstanding,  an  industri- 
ous man,  and  conducted  himself  in  general 
with  great  propriety.  He  had  married  a  na- 
tive, and  had  a  family  of  several  children. — 
He  was  the  first  who  introduced  into  the 
island  the  mode  of  distilling  a  spirit  from  the 
tee-root,  of  which,  however,  he  became  so 
fond,  that  the  king  was  obliged  to  deprive 
him  of  his  still.  When  I  knew  him  he  had 
bound  himself  by  an  oath,  not  to  taste  spirits 
except  at  the  new  year,  at  which  time  he  in- 
dulged to  the  greatest  excess.  He  chiefly  em- 
ployed himself  in  his  garden,  and  had  a  large 
stock  of  European  vegetables. 

In  the  end  of  February,  I  heard  there  was 
a  ship  at  Hanaroora,  and  went  up  with  a  ca- 
noe-load of  provisions,  wisliing  to  provide  my- 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  105 

self  with  some  clothes,  and,  if  possible,  a  few 
books.  She  proved  to  be  the  Duke  of  Port- 
land, South-sea  whaler,  bound  for  England. 
When  I  learned  this,  I  felt  the  wish  to  see  ray 
native  country  and  friends  once  more  so 
strong,  that  I  could  not  resist  the  opportunity 
that  now  offered.  In  addition  to  these  mo- 
tives, the  state  of  my  feet  had  of  late  given 
me  considerable  uneasiness ;  the  sores  had 
never  healed,  and  I  was  anxious  for  medical 
assistance,  in  the  hopes  of  having  a  cure  per- 
formed. I  was,  indeed,  leaving  a  situation  of 
ease,  and  comparative  affluence,  for  one  where, 
labouring  under  the  disadvantage  of  the  loss 
of  my  feet,  I  knew  I  must  earn  a  scanty  sub- 
sistence. I  was  a  tolerable  sail-maker ;  and 
I  knew,  that  if  my  sores  healed,  I  could  gain 
a  comfortable  livelihood  at  that  employment. 
These  hopes  were  never  realized ;  the  state  of 
my  limbs  renders  me  quite  unable  to  hold  a 
bolt-rope,  and  necessity  has  compelled  me  to 
betake  myself  to  a  more  precarious  and  less 
agreeable  occupation. 

The  king  was  on  board  the  ship  at  the  time, 
and  I  asked  his  permission  to  take  my  pas- 
sage home.  He  inquired  my  reason  for  wish- 
ing to  quit  the  island,  and  whether  I  had  any 


106  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLB. 

cause  of  complaint.  I  told  him  I  had  none; 
that  I  was  sensible  I  was  much  better  here 
than  I  could  be  any  where  else,  but  that  I  was 
desirous  to  see  my  friends  once  more.  He 
said,  if  his  belly  told  him  to  go,  he  would  do 
it ;  and  that  if  mine  told  me  so,  I  was  at  li- 
berty. 

He  then  desired  me  to  give  his  compliments 
to  King  George.  I  told  him  that,  though  born 
in  his  dominions,  I  had  never  seen  King 
George ;  and  that,  even  in  the  city  where  he 
lived,  there  were  thousands  who  had  never 
seen  him.  He  expressed  much  surprise  at 
this,  and  asked  if  he  did  not  go  about  among 
his  people,  to  lem'n  tlieir  wants,  as  he  did  ? 
I  answered,  tliat  he  did  not  do  it  himself,  but 
that  he  had  men  wlio  did  it  for  him.  Ta- 
maahmaah  shook  his  head  at  this,  and  said, 
that  other  people  could  never  do  it  so  well  as 
he  could  himself. 

He  sent  a  handsome  cloak  of  feathers  by 
Captain  Spence  as  a  present  to  his  majesty, 
accompanied  by  a  letter,  wliich  I  heard  him 
dictate  to  the  captain.  The  purport  of  it  ^^  as 
^'to  remind  him  of  Captain  Vancouver's  pro- 
mise, that  a  man  of  war,  armed  with  brass 
guns,  and    loaded    with  European    articles, 


VOYAGE  ,ROUi\D  T  HE  WORLD.  10? 

should  be  sent  to  him  ;  and  added,  that  he 
was  sorry  he  was  so  far  away  that  he  could 
not  help  him  in  his  wars  ;  and  concluded,  by 
requesting  his  acceptance  of  the  cloak  as  a 
proof  of  his  regard 

Having  procured  the  king's  permission  to 
depart,  I  went  on  shore  to  take  leave  of  my 
friends  ;  particularly  Isaac  Davis,  and  my  pa- 
troness, the  queen,  who  had  always  treated  me 
with  the  utmost  kindness.  On  this  occasion 
she  presented  me  with  several  valuable  mats 
to  sleep  upon  on  board  the  ship. 

It  will  be  believed  that  I  did  not  leave  \Va- 
hoo  without  the  deepest  regret.  I  had  now 
been  thirteen  months  upon  the  island  ;  du- 
ring which  time  1  had  experienced  nothing 
but  kindness  and  friendship  from  all  ranks — 
froim  ray  much  honoured  master,  the  king, 
down  to  the  lowest  native.  A  crowd  of  peo- 
ple attended  me  to  the  boat ;  unaccustomed  to 
conceal  their  feelings,  they  expressed  them 
with  great  vehemence ;  and  I  heard  the  la- 
mentations of  my  friends  on  shore  long  after 
I  had  reached  the  ship. 

We  sailed  next  day,  being  the  4th  of  March. 

•■|||I|PIJ 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  100 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Description  of  Wahoo — Extent — Whyteete-bay — Accoimt 
of  Tamaahmaa-i's  navy — Town  and  harbour  of  Ha- 
naroora — Bass's  harbour — Wymumme,  or  Pearl-river — 
State  of  cultivation — Breed  of  cattle — Account  of  the 
white  people  resident  on  the  island. 

The  island  of  Wahoo  lies  about  seven 
leagues  to  the  northwest  of  Morotai,  and 
about  thirty  from  Ouhyhee,  in  the  same 
direction  ;  it  is  nearly  forty  miles  in  length 
from  northwest  to  southeast,  and  almost  half 
that  extent  in  breadth. 

Although  only  of  secondary  size,  it  has 
become  the  most  important  island  in  the 
gi'oupe,  both  on  account  of  its  superior  fer- 
tility, and  because  it  possesses  the  only  se- 
cure harbour  to  be  met  with  in  the  Sandwich 
islands. 

In  consequence  of  this,  and  of  the  facility 
with  which  fresh  provisions  can  be  procured, 
almost  every  vessel*  that  navigates  the  north 

*  During  the  thirteen  months  the  author  remained  on  the  island, 
there  were  at  least  twelve  ships  called  at  VVahoo,  of  which  two 
were  EngFso,  the  Duke  of  Portland,  captain  Spence ;   and  the 

10 


no    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Pacific  puts  in  here  to  refit.  Tliis  is  proba- 
bly the  principal  reason  why  the  king  has 
chosen  it  as  his  place  of  residence ;  perhaps 
the  vicinity  to  Atooi  and  Onehow,  the  only 
islands  independent  of  himself,  and  the  con- 
quest of  which  he  is  said  to  meditate,  is  an- 
other and  no  less  powerful  motive. 

The  south  coast  of  the  island  extends  from 
Diamond-hill  on  the  east,  to  Barber's  Point* 
on  the  west,  a  distance  of  about  twenty-four 
miles.  A  range  of  mountains  run  almost 
parallel  to  the  shore,  from  which  it  is  sepa- 
rated by  a  fertile  plain,  which  varies  in 
breadth  ;  at  Hanaroora,  where  it  is  broadest, 
the  distance  from  the  sea  to  the  mountains  is 
about  five  miles. 

A  reef  of  coral  runs  along  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  this  shore,  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  land ;  the  greater  part  of  it  dries  at  low 
water,  and  in  the  inside  it  is  in  many  places 

Otter,  Jobelin.  One  Russian,  the  Neva;  and  the  remainder 
Americans,  viz.  .  the  Catherine,  Blanchard  ;  OKean,  Winship  ; 
Otter,  Hill;  Vancouver,  Swift;  Liddy,  Brown;  Dromo,  Wood- 
ward;  and  three  or  four  more,  when  he  was  at  Pearl  river,  whose 
names  he  does  not  remember. 

*  Captain  Portlocke  distin^ishes  the  first  of  these  points  by  the 
name  of  Point  Dick,  and  the  latter  by  that  of  Point  Banks. 

Portlocke,  p.  75. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    in 

too  shallow  even  for  canoes,  except  at  fdl 
tide.* 

Whyteete  bay,  where  captain  VancouvcF 
anchored,  is  formed  by  the  land  falling  back 
from  the  southern  promontory  of  the  island, 
called  by  the  white  people  Diamond-hill.  It 
is  open  to  the  south  one  half  of  the  compass, 
and  there  being  no  channel,  ships  are  obliged 
to  anchor  on  the  outside  of  the  reef. 

Tamaahmaah  formerly  resided  at  this  place, 
and  great  part  of  his  navy  were  hauled  up  on 
the  shore  round  the  bay.  I  counted  more 
than  thirty  vessels  ;  they  are  kept  with  the 
utmost  care,  having  sheds  built  over  them, 
their  spars  laid  alongside,  and  their  rigging 
and  cables  preserved  in  stores. 

They  are  chiefly  sloops  and  schooners, 
under  forty  tons  burden,  and  have  all  been 
built   by  his   own  carpenters,  principally  na- 

*  Captain  Broiighton  mentions  a  harbour  which  he  surveyed,  call- 
ed Fair  Haven,  which  lies  five  or  six  miles  E.  S.  E.  of  Whyteete;  it  is 
formed  by  an  opening  through  the  reefs,  with  a  clear  channel,  in  a 
N.  N,  E.  direction.  The  wind  generally  blows  fresh  out  of  it,  render- 
ing it  necessary  to  warp  in,  as  there  is  no  room  for  working.  The 
harbour,  though  of  small  extent,  is  ssfe  and  convenient,  with  five 
fathoms  sandy  bottom  within  the  spits.  A  fine  stream  of  fresh  water 
empties  itself  at  the  head  li  was  discovered  in  1794  by  Mr.  Lrown, 
master  of  the  Buttenvorth,  the  same  who  was  afterwards  murdered 
by  the  natives  at  this  place.     Vide  Brovghton's  Voyage,  p.  39. 


112    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

tives,  under  the  direction  of  an  Englishman  of 
the  name  of  Boyd. 

•     He  possesses   one  ship  of  about  two  hun- 
dred tons,  called  the  Lily  Bird.     This  vessel 
was  originally  an   American,  which   arrived 
from  the  coast  of  California  in  a  leaky  con- 
dition.    He  purchased  her  from  the  captain, 
by  giving  his  largest  schooner  in  exchange, 
and   paying  the   difference   in  dollars.      She 
was  repaired  by  his  own  carpenters,  and  laid 
up  at  Hanaroora,  along  side  a  wharf  built  for 
the  purpose.     The  remainder  of  his  fleet,  ten 
or  twelve  more,  were  hauled  up  at  the  same 
place,  except  one  small  sloop,  which  he  kept 
as  a  packet  between  Wahoo  and  Owhyhee. 
She  was  navigated  by  native  seamen,  under 
the  command  of  an  Englishman,  of  the  name 
of  Clerk,  who  had  formerly  been  mate  of  the 
Lily  Bird. 

Three  miles  to  the  west  of  Whyteete  is  the 
town  of  Hanaroora,  now  the  capital  of  the 
island,  and  residence  of  the  king.  The  har- 
b{»ur  is  formed  by  the  reef,  which  shelters 
it  from  the  sea,  and  ships  can  ride  within 
in  safety  in  any  weather,  upon  a  fine  sandy 
bottom.  There  is  a  good  channel  through 
the  reef,  with  three  or  four  fathoms  water; 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    113 

but  if  there  is  a  swell  it  is  not  easily  disco- 
vered, as  the  sea  often  breaks  completely 
across.  Pilots,  however,  are  always  to  be 
had  ;  John  Hairbottle,  captain  of  the  Lily 
Bird,  generally  acted  as  such.  The  best 
anchorage  is  in  five  fathoms  water,  about 
two  cables  length  from  the  shore,  directly 
in  front  of  the  village.  Ships  sometimes  an- 
chor on  the  outside  of  the  reef,  but  they  run 
the  risk  of  having  their  cables  cut  by  the 
coral. 

The  entrance  to  this  harbour  may  proba- 
bly, at  no  very  distant  period,  be  filled  up  by 
the  growth  of  the  coral,  vvlaich  must  be  rapid 
indeed,  if  Hairbottle,  the  pilot,  was  correct, 
when  he  informed  me  that  he  knew  a  difie- 
rence  of  three  feet  during  the  time  he  had 
been  at  Hanaroora.* 

A  small  river  runs  by  the  back  of  the  vil- 
lage, and  joins  the  sea  at  the  west^side  of  the 
harbour ;  owing  to  the  flatness  of  the  coun- 
try, the  water  is  brackish,  and  there  is  none 
fresh  to  be  had  within  several  miles  of  the 
place.     Ships,  however,  can   be   supplied   at 


*  Hairbottle  had  been  fifteen  years  on  the  island,  he  was  mate  of 
the  Jackal],  which  arrived  about  the  end  of  1794.     Vide  Broughton. 

10* 


114    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

a  moderate  rate  by  the  natives,  who  bring  it 
from  the  spring  in  calabashes. 

Six  miles  to  the  westward  is  Bass's  har- 
bour, also  formed  by  an  entrance  through  the 
reef;  within  it  is  well  sheltered,  with  good 
anchorage  in  five  or  six  fathoms ;  but  there 
being  no  village  in  the  vicinity,  it  is  little 
frequented.^ 

Wymumme,  or  Pearl  river,  lies  about  seven 
miles  farther  to  the  westward.  This  inlet 
extends  ten  or  twelve  miles  up  the  country. 
The  entrance  is  not  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  wide,  and  is  only  navigable  for  small 
craft ;  the  depth  of  water  on  the  bar,  at  the 
highest  tides,  not  exceeding  seven  feet ;  farther 
up  it  is  nearly  two  miles  across.  There  is  an 
ilse  in  it,  belonging  to  Manina,  the  king's  in- 
terpreter, in  which  he  keeps  a  numerous  flock 
of  sheep  and  goats. 

*  This  inlet  is  evidently  the  same  which  Captain  Vancouver  sur- 
▼eyed,  and  which,  he  says,  is  named  Oropoa ;  finding  that,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  bar,  it  was  only  navigable  for  small  craft,  the  sur- 
Yey  was  not  continued.  He  merely  says,  that  within  "  it  seemed  to 
spread  out.  and  to  terminate  in  two  bays  about  a  mile  farther  to  the 
northward  "  He  mentions  another  opening  to  the  eastwcird,  called 
by  the  natives  Honoonoona,  which  must  be  either  Bass's  harbour  or 
Hanaroora.  From  the  similarity  of  the  name,  it  is  more  probably 
the  latter  place ;  but  he  passed  it  without  examinatioD,  being  in- 
formed that  it  was  shallower  than  tke  other  inle^. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    115 

Pearls  and  mother-of-pearl  shells  are  found 
here  in  considerable  quantity.  Since  the 
king  has  learned  their  value,  he  has  kept  the 
fishing  to  himself,  and  employs  divers  for  the 
purpose. 

Ten  miles  to  the  west  of  this  is  Barber's 
Point,  (so  called  from  the  captain  of  a  ship 
wrecked  there,)  the  northwest  extremity  of 
the  island.  It  is  very  low,  and  extends  a  con- 
siderable way  into  the  sea. 

The  tides  upon  this  coast  do  not  rise  more 
than  four  feet  at  springs ;  it  is  high  water 
about  three  at  full  and  change  of  the  moon. 
The  force  of  the  current  is  scarcely  percep- 
tible. 

The  flat  land  along  shore  is  highly  culti- 
vated ;  taro  root,  yams,  and  sweet  potatoes, 
are  the  most  common  crops ;  but  taro  forms 
the  chief  object  of  their  husbandry,  being  the 
pAdcipal  article  of  food  amongst  every  class 
of  inhabitants. 

The  mode  of  culture  is  extremely  labori- 
ous, as  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  whole 
field  laid  under  water;  it  is  raised  in  small 
patches,  which  are  seldom  above  a  hundred 
yards  square ;  these  are  surrounded  by  em- 
bankments, generally  about  six  feet  high,  the 


116    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

sides  of  which  are  planted  with  sugar-canes, 
with  a  walk  at  top ;  the  fields  are  intersected 
by  drains  or  acqueducts,  constructed  with 
great  labour  and  ingenuity,  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  the  w  ater  necessary  to  cover 
them. 

The  ground  is  first  carefully  dug  and  level- 
led with  a  w  ooden  spade,  called  maiai,  which 
the  labourers  use.  squatting  on  their  hams  and 
heels.  After  this,  it  is  firmly  beat  down  by 
treading  it  with  their  feet  till  it  is  close  enough 
to  contain  w  ater. 

The  plants  are  propagated  by  planting  a 
small  cutting  from  the  upper  part  of  the  root 
with  the  leaves  adhering.  The  w  ater  is  then 
let  in,  and  covers  the  surface  to  the  depth 
of  twelve  or  eighteen,  inches  ;  in  about  nine 
months  they  are  ready  for  taking  up ;  each 
plant  sends  forth  a  number  of  shoots,  or  suck- 
ers all  around.  This  mode  of  culture  is  par- 
ticularly laborious,  and  in  all  the  operations 
those  engaged  are  almost  constantly  up  to  the 
middle  in  the  mud. 

Notwithstanding  this,  I  have  often  seen  the 
king  working  hard  in  a  taro  patch.  1  know 
not  whether  this  was  done  with  a  view  of 
setting  an  example  of  industry  to  his  subjects. 


VOYAGE  ROUiND  THE  tV^ORLB.  117 

Such  exertion  could  scarcely  be  thought  ne- 
cessary amongst  these  islanders,  who  are  cer- 
tainly the  most  industrious  people  I  ever  saw. 

The  potatoe  and  yam  grounds  are  neatly 
inclosed  by  stone  walls,  about  eighteen  inches 
high.  In  addition  to  these  native  productions, 
Indian  corn,  and  a  great  variety  of  garden 
stuffs  have  been  lately  introduced,  and  are 
cultivated  with  success,  chiefly  by  the  white 
people. 

When  the  islands  were  discovered,  pigs  and 
dogs  were  the  only  useful  animals  they  pos- 
sessed ;  but  Tamaahmaah  has  paid  so  much 
attention  to  the  preservation  of  the  breeds  left 
by  Vancouver,  and  other  navigators,  that  in  a 
short  time  the  stock  of  horned  cattle,  horses, 
sheep,  and  goats,  will  be  abundant. 

At  Owhyhee  1  was  informed  that  there 
were  many  hundreds  of  cattle  running  wild, 
and  several  in  a  domestic  state.  The  king 
had  introduced  the  breed  into  Wahoo ;  and  at 
the  time  I  was  there  he  had  a  herd  of  nine  or 
ten  upon  the  north  side  of  the  island. 

Sheep  and  goats  are  already  very  nume- 
rous. Several  individuals  had  large  flocks  of 
them.  The  queen  had  one,  consisting  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty ;  and  Manina  had 


118    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

several  hundreds  on  the  island  m  Pearl  river. 
—The  khig  had  five  horses,  of  which  he  was 
very  fond,  and  used  frequently  to  go  out  on 
horseback.  I  was  informed  there  were  still 
more  at  Owhyhee. 

The  cattle  lately  introduced  are  pastured 
upon  the  hills,  and  those  parts  of  the  country 
not  under  cultivation,  the  fences  not  being  suf- 
ficient to  confine  them.  The  hogs  are  kept  in 
pens,  and  fed  on  taro  leaves,  sugar  canes,  and 
garbage. 

The  chiefs  are  the  proprietors  of  the  soil, 
and  let  the  land  in  small  farms  to  the  lower 
class,  who  pay  them  a  rent  in  kind,  generally 
pigs,  cloth,  or  mats,  at  four  terms  in  the  year. 
^  At  one  time  during  my  stay,  there  were 
nearly  sixty  white  people  upon  Wahoo  alone; 
but  the  number  was  constantly  varying,  and 
was  considerably  diminished  before  my  de- 
parture. Although  the  great  majority  had 
been  left  by  American  vessels,  not  above  one 
third  of  them  belonged  to  that  nation ;  the 
rest  were  almost  all  English,  and  of  these  six 
or  eight  woro  convicts,  who  had  made  their 
escape*  from  New^  South  Wales. 

Many  inducements  are   held  out  to  sailors 
to  remain  here.     If  they  conduct  themselves 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  119 

with  propriety,  they  raiik  as  chiefs,  and  are 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  order ;  at 
all  events,  they  are  certain  of  being  maintain- 
ed by  some  of  the  chiefs,  wl::^  are  always  an- 
xious to  have  white  people  about  them. 

The  king  has  a  considerrble  number  in  his 
service,  chiefly  carpenters,  joiners,  masons, 
blacksmiths,  and  bricklayers ;  these  he  re- 
wards liberally  with  grants  of  land.  Some  of 
these  ppople  are  sober  and  industrious ;  but 
this  is  far  from  being  their  general  character ; 
on  the  contrary,  many  of  them  are  idle  and 
dissolute,  getting  drunk  whenever  an  opportu- 
nity presents  itself.  They  have  introduced 
distillation  into  the  island  ;  and  the  evil  conse- 
quences, both  to  the  natives  and  whites,  are 
incalculable.  It  is  no  uncommon  sight  to  see 
a  party  of  them  broach  a  small  cask  of  spi- 
rits, and  sit  drinking  for  days  till  they  see  it 
out. 

There  are,  however,  a  few  exceptions  to 
this.  William  Davis,  a  Welshman,  who  resi- 
ded with  Isaac  Davis,  used  to  rise  every  morn- 
ing at  five,  and  go  to  his  fields,  where  he  com- 
monly remained  till  the  same  hour  in  the  eve- 
ning. This  singularity  puzzled  the  natives 
not  a  little  ;  but  they  accounted  for  it,  by  sup- 


120    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

posing  that  he  had  been  one  of  then-  own  coun- 
trymen, who  had  gone  to  Caheite,  or  England, 
after  his  death,  and  had  now  come  back  to  his 
native  land. 

There  were  no  missionaries  upon  the  island 
during  the  time  1  remained  in  it,  at  which  I 
was  often  much  surprised. 

Most  of  the  whites  have  married  native  w  o- 
men,  by  whom  they  have  families ;  but  they 
pay  little  attention  either  to  the  education  or  to 
the  religious  instruction  of  thcu'  children.  I 
do  not  recollect  having  seen  any  who  knew 
more  than  the  letters  of  the  alphabet. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD-    121 


CHAPTER  X. 

Account  of  the  natives — Personal  appearance — ^Ranks- 
Power  of  the  king—  Priests— Capital  punishments — Mode 
of  detecting  theft — Religious  belief — Places  of  worship 
and  ceremonies — Macaheite — Houses — Food — Ava— 
Spirits  distilled  ft^om  the  tee-root — State  of  the  women — 
Marriages — Dress — Manufactures — Nets  and  lines — 
Modes  of  fishing — Trade — Price  of  provisions — Amuse- 
ments— Funeral  Rites — Military — Progress  in  civiliza- 
tion— Account  of  Tamaahmaah  and  family. 

The  manners  and  customs  of  the  Sand- 
wich islanders  have  been  repeatedly  described 
by  much  abler  observers ;  but  my  long  resi- 
dence has  given  me  opportunities  of  noticing 
many  things  which  have  escaped  others  ;  and 
to  these  I  shall,  as  much  as  possible,  confine 
my  remarks. 

The  natives,  although  not  tall,  are  stout 
and  robust  in  their  make,  particularly  those  of 
the  higher  rank ;  their  complexion  is  nut- 
brown,  and  they  are  extremely  cleanly  in  their 
persons.  They  are  distinguished  by  great  in- 
genuity in  all  their  arts  and  manufactures,  as 
well  as  by  a  most  persevering  industry. 


122    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

They  are  divided  into  two  great  classes  l 
the  Erees,  or  chiefs,  and  the  Cannakamowree, 
or  people.  The  former  are  the  proprietors  of 
the  land,  the  latter  are  all  under  the  dominion 
of  some  chief,  for  whom  they  work,  or  culti- 
vate the  ground,  and  by  whom  they  are  sup- 
ported in  old  age.  They  are  not,  however, 
slaves,  or  attached  to  the  soil,  but  at  liberty  to 
change  masters  when  they  think  proper. 

The  supreme  government  is  vested  in  the 
king,  whose  power  seems  to  be  completely 
absolute.  He  is  assisted  by  the  principal 
chiefs,  whom  he  always  keeps  about  his  per- 
son ;  many  of  these  have  particular  depart- 
ments to  attend  to ;  one  chief  took  charge  of 
the  household,  and  appointed  the  different 
surveys  to  be  performed  by  every  individual ; 
another,  named  Cow  eeowranee,  acted  as  pay- 
master ;  his  province  was  to  distribute  wages 
and  provisions  amongst  the  people  in  the 
king's  service. 

An  elderly  chief,  of  the  name  of  Naai,  took 
a  general  charge  of  the  whole,  and  was,  in 
fact,  prime  minister.  He  was  commonly 
called  Billy  Pitt  by  the  white  people,  and  was 
by  no  means  pleased  when  they  addressed 
him  by  any  other  appelJation. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    123 

The  principal  duties  of  the  executive  were, 
however,  entrusted  to  the  priests ;  by  them 
the  revenues  w^ere  collected,  and  the  laws 
enforced.  Superstition  is  the  most  powerful 
engine  by  which  the  latter  purpose  is  effected ; 
actual  punishment  being  rare.  I  knew  only 
one  instance  of  capital  punishment;  which 
was  that  of  a  man  who  had  violated  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  morai.  Having  got  drunk,  he 
quitted  it  during  taboo  time,  and  entered  the 
house  of  a  woman.  He  was  immediately 
seized,  and  carried  back  to  the  morai,  where 
his  eyes  were  put  out.  After  remaining  two 
days  in  this  state,  he  was  strangled,  and  his 
body  exposed  before  the  principal  idol. 

The  method  of  detecting  theft  or  robbery, 
affords  a  singular  instance  of  the  power  ol 
superstition  over  their  minds.  The  party  who 
has  suffered  the  loss  applies  to  one  of  the 
priests,  to  whom  he  presents  a  pig,  and  relates 
his  story. 

The  following  ceremony  is  then  perform- 
ed ;  the  priest  begins  by  rubbing  two  pieces 
of  green  wood  upon  each  other,  till,  by  the 
friction,  a  kind  of  powder,  like  snuff,  is  pro- 
duced, which  is  so  hot,  that  on  being  placed 
ill  dry  grass,  and  blown  upon,  it  takes  fire ; 


124         VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

with  this,  a  large  pile  of  wood  is  kindled, 
and  allowed  to  burn  a  certain  time.  He  then 
takes  three  nuts  of  an  oily  nature,  called 
tootooee  ;  having  broken  the  shells,  one  of 
the  kernels  is  thrown  into  the  fire,  at  which 
time  he  says  an  anana,  or  prayer ;  and  while 
the  nut  is  crackling  in  the  fire,  repeats  the 
words  Muckeeroio  kanaka  ai  kooee,  that  is, 
kill  or  shoot  the  fellow.  The  same  ceremo- 
nies take  place  with  each  of  the  nuts,  provided 
the  thief  does  not  appear  before  they  are  con- 
sumed. 

This,  however,  but  seldom  happens ;  the  cul- 
prit generally  makes  his  appeai-ence  with  the 
stolen  property,  which  is  restored  to  the  owner, 
and  the  offence  punished  by  a  fine  of  four 
pigs.  He  is  then  dismissed,  with  strict  in- 
junctions not  to  commit  the  like  crime  in 
future,  under  pain  of  a  more  severe  penalty. 
The  pigs  are  taken  to  the  moral,  where  they 
are  oftered  up  as  sacrifices,  and  afterwards 
eaten  by  the  priests. 

Should  it  happen  that  the  unfortunate  crimi- 
nal does  not  make  his  appearance  during  the 
awful  ceremony,  his  fate  is  inevitable  ;  had  he 
the  vi^hole  island  to  bestow,  not  one  word  of 
the  prayer  gould  be  recalled,  nor  the  anger  of 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    125 

the  Elooah  appeased.  The  circumstance  is 
reported  to  the  king,  and  proclamation  made 
throughout  the  island,  that  a  certain  person  has 
been  robbed,  and  that  those  who  are  guilty 
have  been  prayed  to  death. 

So  firm  is  their  belief  in  the  power  of  these 
prayers,  that  the  culprit  pines  away,  refusing 
to  take  any  sustenance,  and  at  last  falls  a  sacri- 
fice to  his  credulity. 

The  priests  also  practice  medicine.  Bath- 
ing is  their  great  specific.  If  the  patient  is 
too  weak  to  be  carried  to  the  sea,  he  is  wash- 
ed with  salt  water.  The  oil  extracted  from 
a  nut,  called  tootooee,  is  used  as  a  purga- 
tive ;  and  a  black  mineral  substance,  reduced 
to  a  powder,  as  an  emetic.  This  is  very 
powerful  in  its  effects ;  half  the  quantity  that 
can  be  laid  on  a  sixpence  forming  a  sufficient 
dose. 

I  have  but  few  particulars  to  give  of  their 
religious  opinions.  Their  principal  god,  to 
whom  they  attribute  the  creation  of  the  world, 
is  called  Etooah  ;  and  they  have  seven  or 
eight  subordinate  deities,  whose  images  are 
in  the  morai,  and  to  whom  offerings  are  made 
as  well  as  to  the  Etooah.  Their  names  I  can- 
not recollect 

11* 


126  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

They  believe  ni  a  future  state,  where  they 
will  be  rewarded  or  punished  for  their  con- 
duct in  this  life.  Their  belief  in  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  has  already  been  remarked.  Du- 
ring the  time  I  lived  with  the  king,  it  was  re- 
ported that  some  person  had  prayed  him  to 
death ;  in  order  to  counteract  the  effects  of 
this,  the  daughter  of  a  chief  prostrated  herself 
before  the  house,  and  turning  towards  the 
setting  sun,  prayed  with  great  fervency.  I 
did  not  then  understand  the  language,  and 
imagined  that  she  w^as  addressing  that  lumi- 
nary ;  but  William  Moxely  explained  that 
part  to  me.  She  said,  How  could  the  sun  rise 
and  set,  or  the  moon  perform  her  revolutions, 
if  there  were  not  some  superior  Being  who 
i^gulated  their  motions. 

They  have  a  tradition  of  a  general  deluge. 
According  to  their  account,  the  sea  once  over- 
ilowed  the  whole  world,  except  Mouna  Kaa, 
in  Owhyhee,  and  swept  away  all  the  inhabi- 
tants but  one  pair,  who  saved  themselves  on 
that  mountain,  and  are  the  parents  of  the 
present  race  of  mankind. 

Their  morals,  or  places  of  worship,  consist 
of  one  large  house,  or  temple,  with  some 
smaller  ones  round  it,  in  which  are  the  im- 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.         127 

ages  of  their  inferior  gods.  The  tabooed,  or 
consecrated  precincts,  are  marked  out  by 
four  square  posts,  which  stand  thirty  or  forty 
yards  from  the  building.  In  the  inside  of  the 
principal  house  there  is  a  screen  or  curtain 
of  white  cloth,  hung  across  one  end,  within 
which  the  image  of  Etooah  is  placed.  When 
sacrifices  are  offered,  the  priests  and  chiefs 
enter  occasionally  within  this  space,  going  in 
at  one  side  and  out  at  the  other.  Although 
present  on  one  occasion,  I  did  not  enter  this 
recess,  partly  because  I  was  doubtful  of  the 
propriety  of  doing  so,  and  also  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  I  had  in  moving  myself,  and  the 
risk  of  getting  my  wounds  injured  among  the 
crowd. 

On  the  outside  are  placed  several  images 
made  of  wood,  as  ugly  as  can  be  well  im- 
agined, having  their  mouths  all  stuck  round 
with  dog's  teeth. 

Their  holidays  took  place  about  four  times 
a  month,  and  the  ceremonies  lasted  from 
sunset  on  the  day  preceding,  to  sunrise  on 
the  following  day;  during  which  no  person 
was  permitted  to  pass  the  bounds  of  the  mo- 
rai.  This  time  was  spent  in  prayer,  in  sa- 
crificing pigs,  in  eating  the  sacrifices,  and  in 


128    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

conversation.  I  attended  only  once,  and  was 
not,  at  that  time,  sufficiently  master  of  the 
language  to  understand  the  purport  of  the 
prayers. 

The  priest  continued  nearly  three  hours,  in 
a  very  solemn  manner,  during  which  the  most 
profound  silence  was  observed  ;  indeed,  the 
smallest  noise  of  any  kind,  either  within  the 
morai  or  in  the  neighbourhood,  would  have 
been  a  proof  that  the  deity  was  offended,  and 
the  prayer  must  have  ceased  ;  a  proclamation 
was,  therefore,  made  by  the  public  crier, 
whenever  the  king  entered  the  morai,  order- 
ing every  animal  near  it  to  be  confined,  other- 
wise they  should  be  seized  and  offered  up  as 
sacrifices.  Those  present  stood  with  their 
arms  extended  towards  heaven  for  about  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  at  the  beginning  of  the 
prayer,  and  the  same  length  of  time  at  its  con- 
clusion. I  was  not  required  to  perform  this 
part  of  the  ceremony. 

The  number  present  did  not  exceed  forty, 
and  were  all  of  the  higher  rank.  Women 
are  never  permitted  to  attend  on  these  occa- 
sions. 

Human  sacrifices  are  offered  upon  their 
going  to  w  ar ;  but  nothing  of  the  kind  took 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    I2f 

place  during  ray  stay ;  unless  in  the  case  al- 
ready mentioned,  of  the  man  punished  for 
breaking  the  taboo,  and  whose  body  was  ex- 
posed before  the  idol. 

During  the  period  called  Macaheite,  which 
lasts  a  whole  month,  and  takes  place  in  No- 
vember, the  priests  are  employed  in  collect- 
ing the  taxes,  which  are  paid  by  the  chiefs  in 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  their  territories ; 
they  consist  of  mats,  feathers,  and  the  pro- 
ducair  of  the  country.  The  people  celebrate 
this  festival  by  dancing,  wrestling,  and  other 
amusements. 

The  king  remains  in  the  raorai  for  the  whole 
period  ;  before  entering  it,  a  singular  ceremo- 
ny takes  place.  He  is  obliged  to  stand  till 
three  spears  are  darted  at  him :  He  must 
catch  the  first  with  his  hand,  and  with  it  ward 
off  the  other  two.  This  is  not  a  mere  formal- 
ity. The  spear  is  thrown  with  the  utmost 
force,  and  shoiild  the  king  lose  his  life,  there  is 
no  help  for  it.* 

*  Tamaahmaah  is  so  dexterous  in  the  use  of  the  spear,  that  he 
probably  runs  little  risk  in  thus  exposing  himself.  Vancouver  re- 
lates, that  in  a  sham-fight  he  saw  him  ward  off  six  spears  that  were 
hurled  at  him  almost  at  the  same  instant.  "  Three  he  caught  as 
they  were  flying  with  one  hand  ;  two  he  broke  by  panying  them 
with  his  spear  ;  and  the  sixth,  by  a  trifling  inclination  of  his  body, 
passed  harmless  " — Vancouver,  Vol.  HI.  p.  254. 


130    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

At  the  Macabeite,  which  happened  when  I 
was  on  the  island,  the  eldest  son  of  Tamaah- 
maah,  a  youth  about  fifteen,  was  invested  with 
royal  honours,  and  entided  to  the  same  marks 
of  respect  as  his  father.  What  share  he  had 
in  the  government  I  did  not  learn;  but  I  ob- 
served no  alteration  in  the  exercise  of  the 
king's  authority. 

The  houses  of  the  natives  are  of  the  sim- 
plest form  ;  they  are  oblong,  with  very  low 
side-walls,  and  high-thatched  roofs;  within, 
they  are  not  divided  into  separate  apartments, 
nor  have  they  any  tables  or  seats. 

It  is  only  by  size  that  the  houses  of  the 
chiefs  are  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
lower  orders,  for  the  same  barn-like  shape  is 
universal.  They  are,  however,  kept  very 
clean;  and  their  household  utensils,  consist- 
ing of  wooden  dishes  and  calabashes,  are 
hung,  neatly  arranged,  upon  the  walls.  While 
the  floors  of  the  meaner  houses  are  bare,  ex- 
cept the  place  for  sleeping,  w  here  a  few  mats 
are  spread,  those  of  the  higher  orders  are 
entirely  covered  over  with  mats,  many  of 
w^hich  are  worked  with  great  elegance  into 
different  patterns.  At  one  end,  a  platform 
raised    about   three    feet   from   the    ground, 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    131 

which  extends  the  whole  breadth  of  the  apart- 
ment, is  spread  with  a  layer  of  rushes,  and 
covered  with  mats.  This  forms  the  sleeping 
place  for  the  upper  part  of  the  family ;  the  at- 
tendants sleep  at  the  opposite  end. 

As  the  two  sexes  never  eat  together,  the 
chiefs  have  always  a  separte  eating-house,  and 
even  the  lower  ranks  have  one  to  every  six  or 
seven  famihes  for  the  men.  The  women  take 
their  food  in  the  samie  houses  in  which  they 
sleep. 

Few  of  the  houses,  except  the  largest,  have 
any  windows  ;  the  light  being  admitted  by  the 
door,  which  is  seldom  closed.  The  dwellings 
of  the  upper  ranks  are  generally  surrounded 
by  a  paling.  In  all  of  them  the  utniost  atten- 
tion to  cleanliness  prevails. 

Their  mode  of  cooking  has  been  often 
described.  Poey,  or  taro-pudding,  which  is 
the  principal  food  of  all  ranks,  is  prepared  by 
baking  the  root  in  a  pit  widi  hot  stones,  up- 
on which  water  is  poured.  It  is  afterwards 
scraped,  mashed,  and  mixed  with  cold  water. 
When  newly  made,  it  is  not  tmpalatable,  but  it 
soon  turns  sour. 

Fish  are  often  eaten  raw,  seasoned  with 
saltwater.     When  cooked,-  they  are  either 


132    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

done  in  their  usual  manner,  under  ground,  or 
broiled,  by  putting  them,  wrapt  in  leaves,  up- 
on the  fire.  When  the  leaves  are  burnt,  they 
consider  them  ready. 

They  preserve  pork  by  taking  out  the  bones, 
and  rubbing  it  well  with  salt ;  after  which  it  is 
made  up  in  rolls,  and  dried. 

They  frequently  eat  with  their  pork  a  kind 
of  pudding  made  of  taro-root,  which  is  pre- 
viously cut  in  slices,  and  dried  in  the  sun  ;  it 
keeps  a  great  length  o{  rime,  and  is  a  good 
substitute  for  bread.  In  this  state  it  is  prefer- 
red bv  the  white  people.  The  natives  pre- 
serve it  for  taking  to  sea,  by  mashing  and  form- 
ing it  into  a  solid  paste,  w  hen  it  is  wrapped  in 
leaves,  and  will  keep  fre^h  for  five  or  six 
weeks. 

The  sugar-cane,  w^hich  they  chew,  is  also  a 
general  article  of  foc^d. 

Instead  of  candles,  the  tootooee-nut  is  used, 
which  being  of  an  oily  nature,  yields  a  consi- 
derable quantity  of  light.  It  grows  upon  a 
small  tree,  and  is  about  the  size  of  a  horse- 
chesnut.  When  pulled,  they  are  thrown  in- 
to water,  and  those  that  sink  are  reckoned 
sound;  they  are  then  baked  under  ground, 
and  their  shells  broken  ofi\   in  which  state 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.          las 

they  are  kept  till  required.  When  used  as 
candles,  they  string  twenty  or  thirty  upon  a 
sHt  of  bamboo,  each  of  which  will  burn  five 
or  six  minutes  ;  but  they  require  constant 
trimming,  and  it  is  necessary  to  reverse  the 
torch  whenever  a  nut  is  consumed,  that  the  one 
under  it  may  catch  fire.  It  must,  therefore,  be 
held  by  a  person  whose  business  it  is  to  keep  it 
always  in  order. 

This  nut,  when  pressed,  yields  an  oil  well 
adapted  for  mixing  with  paint.  The  black 
colour,  by  which  their  canoes  are  painted,  is 
produced  by  burning  the  nuts  after  they  are 
pressed,  and  by  the  cinders  of  the  torches, 
which  are  carefully  preserved  for  the  purpose  ; 
these  are  reduced  to  powder,  and  mixed  with 
oil. 

Ava,  with  which  the  natives  w^ere  formerly 
wont  to  intoxicate  themselves,  is  now  giving 
way  to  the  use  of  ardent  spirits.  I  never  saw 
it  used,  except  as  a  medicine  to  prevent  corpu- 
lency, and  is  said  to  be  an  effectual  remedy. 
It  causes  a  white  scurf  to  strike  out  upon  the 
$kin,  somewhat  like  the  dry  scurvy. 

The  spirit  distilled  from  the  tea-root  now 

usurps  its  place,  and  I  fear  the  consequences 

will  be  still  more  pernicious. 
12 


134        V  OYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

That  plant  grows  wild  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  country,  and  varies  from  the  size  of  a 
carrot  to  that  of  a  man's  thigh.  It  is  put  into 
a  pit,  amongst  heated  stones,  and  covered 
w  ith  plantain  and  taro  leaves ;  through  these 
a  small  hole  is  made,  and  water  poured  in  ; 
after  which  the  whole  is  closed  up  again,  and 
allowed  to  remain  twenty-four  hours.  When 
the  root  has  undergone  this  process,  the 
juice  tastes  as  sweet  as  molasses.  It  is  then 
taken  out,  bruised,  and  put  into  a  canoe  to 
ferment  ;  and  in  five  or  six  days  is  ready  for 
distillation. 

Their  stills  are  formed  out  of  iron  pots, 
which  they  procure  from  American  ships,  and 
which  they  enlarge  to  any  size,  by  fixing  sev- 
eral tier  of  calabashes  above  them,  with  their 
bottoms  sawed  off,  and  the  joints  well  luted. 
From  the  uppermost,  a  wooden  tube  con- 
nects widi  a  copper  cone,  round  the  inside  of 
which  is  a  ring  with  a  pipe  to  carry  off  the 
spirit.  The  cone  is  fixed  into  a  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  a  tub  filled  with  water,  which  serves 
as  a  condenser. 

By  this  simple  apparatus  a  spirit  is  pro- 
duced, called  lumi,  or  rum,  and  which  is  by 
no  means  harsh  or  unpalatable.     Both  whites 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    155 

and  natives  are  unfortunately  too  much  ad- 
dicted to  it.  Almost  every  one  of  the  chiefs 
has  his  own  still. 

Smoking  tobacco  is  another  luxury  of  which 
the  natives  are  very  fond.  The  plant  grows 
in  abundance  upon  the  islands,  and  they  use 
it  in  a  green  state.  In  their  tobacco  pipes 
they  display  their  usual  taste  and  ingenuity. 
The  tube  is  made  of  a  hollow  stem  of  a  kind 
of  vine,  fixed  to  an  iron  bowl,  which  is  inserted 
into  hard  wood.  The  stem  is  covered  with 
rings  of  ivory  and  turtle-shell,  placed  alter- 
nately; the  whole  kept  firmly  together  at  the 
top  by  an  ivory  mouth- piece. 

The  women  are  subject  to  many  restrictions 
from  which  the  men  are  exempted.  They 
are  not  allowed  to  attend  the  moral  upon 
taboo  days,  nor  at  these  times  are  they  per- 
mitted to  go  out  in  a  canoe.  They  are  never 
permitted  to  eat  with  the  men,  except  when 
at  sea,  and  then  not  out  of  the  same  dish. 
Articles  of  delicacy,  such  as  pork,  turtle, 
shark,  cocoa-nuts,  bananas  or  plantains,  are 
also  forbidden.  Dog's  flesh  and  fish  were 
the  only  kinds  of  animal  food  lawful  for  them 
to  eat;  but  since  the  introduction  of  sheep  and 


t36    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

goats,  which  are  not  tabooed,  the  ladies  have 
less  reason  to  complain. 

Notwithstanding  the  rigour  with  which 
these  ceremonies  are  generally  observed,  the 
women  very  seldom  scruple  to  break  them, 
when  it  can  be  done  in  secret;  they  often 
swim  off  to  ships  at  night  during  the  taboo ; 
and  I  have  known  them  eat  of  the  forbidden 
delicacies  of  pork  and  shark's  flesh.  What 
would  be  the  consequence  of  a  discovery  I 
linow  not ;  but  I  once  saw  the  queen  trans- 
gressing in  this  respect,  and  was  strictly  en- 
joined to  secrecy,  as  she  said  it  was  as  much 
as  her  life  was  worth. 

Their  ideas  of  marriage  are  very  loose ; 
either  party  may  quit  the  other  when  they 
tire  or  disagree.  The  lower  classes  in  gene- 
ral, content  themselves  with  one  wife ;  but 
they  are  by  no  means  confined  to  that  num- 
ber, and  the  chiefs  have  frequently  several. 
Tamaahmaah  had  two,  besides  a  very  hand- 
some girl,  the  daughter  of  a  chief,  educating 
for  him.  One  elderly  chief,  Coweeooranee, 
had  no  fewer  than  fifteen.  They  are  very 
jealous  of  any  improper  connexion  between 
natives  and  their  wives ;  but  the  case  is  wide- 
ly different  with  respect  to  their  visitors,  where 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    137 

connexion  of  that  kind  is  reckoned  the  surest 
proof  of  friendship,  and  they  are  always  an- 
xious to  strengthen  it  by  that  tie. 

The  virtue  of  the  king's  wives  is,  however, 
most  scrupulously  guarded  ;  each  of  them  hav- 
ing a  male  and  a  female  attendant,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  watch  them  on  all  occasions.  Should  it 
])e  discovered  that  any  of  the  queens  have 
been  unfaithful,  these  attendants  are  punished 
with  death,  unless  they  have  given  the  first 
intimation. 

Immediately  after  child-birth,  women  are 
obliged  to  retire  to  the  woods,  where  they  re- 
main ten  days,  and  must  not  be  seen  by  the 
men.  The  queen,  who  had  a  daughter  whilst 
I  was  there,  had  a  house  for  the  purpose  ot 
retirement ;  but,  in  general,  they  have  no  other 
shelter  but  what  the  woods  afford.  They  also 
retire  in  the  same  manner  three  days  in  every 
month.* 


*  Captain  Lisianski  relates  the  same  practice  as  prevalent  among 
the  Aleutian  women  :  if  he  is  not  mistaken  in  ascribing  it  to  them 
instead  of  the  Sandwich  islanders,  or  if  our  author  has  not  fallen 
into  the  opposite  error,  the  coincidence  is  remarkable. 

Campbell,  upon  being  questioned,  related  several  instances  of  .its 
having  occurred  in  Wahoo.  He  cannot  say  as  to  the  practice  of 
the  Aleutian  islands. 

12* 


138    VOYAGE  R0UND  THE  WORLD. 

A  simple  garment,  called  pow,  forms  the 
principal  part  of  the  dress  of  the  women  ;  it 
consists  of  a  piece  of  cloth  about  one  yard 
broad  and  three  in  length,  wrapped  several 
times  round  the  waist,  with  tlie  end  tucked 
in  below,  and  reaching  to  the  calf  of  the  leg. 
In  cold  weather,  they  throw  another  piece  of 
cloth,  like  a  plaid,  over  their  shoulders.  Round 
the  neck  they  often  wear  wreaths  of  the  leaves 
of  a  fragrant  plant  called  miri,  resembling 
those  of  the  vine. 

An  ivory  ornament,  called  palava,  is  very 
generally  worn,  suspended  by  a  hair  necklace, 
neatly  plahed  into  small  cords.  The  hole 
through  which  it  is  passed  is  large  enough  to 
admit  the  thumb,  and  the  plaits  are  so  nume- 
rous as  to  fill  it  entirely. 

The  hair  is  combed  back  in  front,  and 
plastered  over  with  a  kind  of  lime  made  from 
burnt  shells.  This  practice  bleaches  that  on 
the  forehead  nearly  w  hite. 

Their  heads  are  adorned  with  wreaths  of 
flowers  taken  from  the  stalk,  and  strung  on 
the  stem  of  a  small  creeping  plant.  They 
prefer  purple,  yellow,  and  white,  and  arrange 
them  alternately  three  or  four  inches  of  each 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    139 

colour.  This  is  twined  several  times  round 
the  head,  and  has  a  very  elegant  appearance. 

They  are  at  great  pains  in  ornamenting 
themselves,  for  which  purpose  every  female  is 
provided  with  a  small  mirror.  All  ranks  pay 
the  utmost  attention  to  personal  cleanliness. 

The  dress  of  the  men  consists  merely  of  a 
small  girdle,  made  of  taper,  called  the  maro. 
Upon  great  occasions,  the  chiefs  wear  elegant 
cloaks  and  helmets  of  red  and  yellow  feathers. 

The  cloth  called  taper  is  entirely  manufac- 
tured by  women,  and  is  made  from  a  bark  of 
a  tree,  which  is  first  steeped  in  water,  and 
then  beat  out  with  a  piece  of  wood,  grooved 
or  furrowed  like  a  crimping  machine.  The 
bark  is  laid  upon  another  piece  of  wood, 
grooved  like  the  former.  As  these  two  instru- 
ments are  at  right  angles  during  the  operation, 
the  marks  in  the  cloth  are  crossed  Uke  warp  and 
woof. 

It  is  colored  with  the  juice  of  berries,  laid 
on  with  a  piece  of  turtle-shell,  shaped  like 
a  knife,  or  with  a  brush,  formed  by  chewing 
the  end  of  a  slip  of  bamboo.  In  this  man- 
ner it  is  tinged  brown,  green,  blue,  and 
black;  to  produce  a  yellow,  the  cloth  is 
dipt  in  a  dye   prepared  by  boiling  the  cone 


140    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

of  a  tree  in  water.  They  often  paint  a  varie- 
ty of  patterns,  in  which  they  display  great 
taste  and  fancy. 

This  cloth,  from  its  texture,  is,  when  wet- 
ted, extremely  apt  to  get  damaged,  in  which 
state  it  tears  like  moLst  paper ;  great  care, 
therefore,  is  always  taken  to  keep  it  dry,  or 
to  have  ii  carefully  dried  when  it  is  wetted. 
When  they  swim  off  to  ships,  they  hold  their 
clothes  out  of  the  water  in  one  hand,  occasion- 
ally changing  it  as  it  becomes  fatigued. 

The  mats  with  which  the  floors  of  the 
houses  are  covered,  are  also  manufactured  by 
the  women.  They  are  made  of  rushes,  or  a 
kind  of  broad-leaved  grass,  split  at  the  stem, 
and  are  worked  in  a  variety  of  patterns. 

The  natives  are  most  dexterous  fishers,  and 
their  implements  are  constructed  with  much 
ingenuity.  The  hooks  are  sometimes  made 
of  mother-of-pearl  and  tortoise-shell,  but  those 
procured  from  ships  are  coming  into  more  ge- 
neral use. 

Their  nets  and  lines  are  spun  from  the  fibre 
of  a  broad-leaved  plant  called  ourana,  similar 
in  appearance  to  sedge  or  flags ;  it  is  pulled 
green,  and  the  outside  stripped  off  w  ith  a  tor- 
toise-shell knife,  after  which  it  is  steeped  in 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    141 

water ;  the  fibres  are  separated  by  the  nail, 
and  spun  into  lines,  by  rolling  them  between 
the  hand  and  the  thigh.  The  lines  have  some- 
times two  strands,  and  sometimes  three,  and 
are  much  stronger  than  those  of  hemp.  They 
drag  these  lines  after  their  canoes,  and  in  this 
manner  take  bonettas,  dolphins,  and  albi- 
cores.  For  the  hooks  of  their  own  manufac- 
ture bait  is  not  required,  the  mother-of-pearl 
shank  serving  the  sauie  end.  When  wire^ 
hooks  are  used,  they  wrap  a  piece  of  white 
cloth  round  them. 

The  nets  in  which  they  take  the  flying  fish 
are  made  of  twine  of  the  same  material. — 
They  are  about  a  hundred  yards  in  length,  by 
three  or  four  yards  in  breadth,  and  have  a 
large  bag  in  the  centre. 

They  are  set  like  herring-nets,  with  the 
«pper  edge  floated  by  buoys  of  light  wood, 
whilst  the  lower  edge  is  kept  under  water  by 
weights  of  lead  or  iron.  In  order  to  prevent 
the  fish  from  flying  over,  branches  of  trees 
are  laid  all  along  the  head-hne.  When  pro- 
perly extended,  a  canoe  at  each  end  of  the 
net,  gradually  advances,  forming  it  into  a  cir- 
cle, into  which  the  fish  are  driven  by  a  num-- 
ber  of  canoes,  who  fill  up  the  open  side,  and 


142    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

beat  the  surface  violently  with  branches. — 
When  the  canoes  at  each  end  of  the  net  meet, 
they  gradually  take  it  in,  contracting  the  cir- 
cle till  the  lish  are  forced  into  the  bag  in  the 
centre. 

In  this  manner  prodigious  numbers  are  ta- 
ken. 1  have  knoun  them  return,  after  a  day's 
fishing,  with  ten  or  twelve  canoes  deeply  load- 
ed. Sometimes  the  net  is  so  full  thev  cannot 
take  it  on  board,  and  are  obliged  to  drag  it  af- 
ter them  to  the  shore. 

They  have  a  singular  method  of  catching 
fish  by  poison.  This  is  done  by  means  of  an 
herb  like  heath,  stripped  of  its  bark,  and  bruis- 
ed ;  with  this  they  dive  to  the  bottom,  and 
place  it  beneath  the  stones,  where  the  fish  lie. 
The  poison  is  so  powerful,  that  in  a  short  time 
they  sicken,  and  come  up  to  the  surface. — 
When  taken  they  are  instantly  gutted,  in  order 
that  the  poison  in  their  stomach  may  not  af- 
fect the  quality  of  the  fish. 

The  occupiers  or  proprietors  of  land  are  en- 
titled to  the  privilege  of  fishing  upon  their  own 
shores  as  far  as  the  tallest  man  in  the  island  can 
wade  at  low  water,  and  they  may  exercise 
that  ridit  at  all  seasons :  but  bevond  that  the 
sea  is  tabooed,  except  at  two  periods  in  the 


VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD.  143 

year,  of  six  weeks  each,  during  which  un- 
limited fishing  is  allowed.  At  these  times  it  is 
the  general  employment  of  the  natives,  and 
they  cure  enough  to  serve  them  through  the 
tabooed  season. 

In  every  article  of  their  man ufactiu'e  these 
islanders  display  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
neatness  and  ingenuity,  considering  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  tools  with  which  they  work. 

The  too]  in  most  general  use  is  a  kind  of 
tomahawk,  or  adze,  called  toe ;  it  was  for- 
merly made  of  hard  polished  stone,  but  is 
now  universally  made  of  iron.  To  form  it, 
they  lash  a  thin  plate  of  iron,  from  one  to  four 
inches  broad,  and  five  or  six  long,  to  a  branch 
which  has  a  piece  of  the  stem  attached  to  it. 
Plane  irons  are  much  in  request  for  this 
purpose ;  but  the  toe  is  frequently  made  of  an 
old  hoop. 

This,  with  a  piece  of  coral  for  a  file,  is 
almost  the  only  tool  used  in  the  construction 
of  their  houses,  canoes,  and  implements  of 
\\ood. 

The  circular  wooden  dishes,  containing 
from  half  a  pint  to  five  or  six  gallons,  are 
formed  with  these  simple  tools,  and  are  as 
neatly  made  as  if  they  had  been  turned  in  a 


144    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

lathe.  It  is  astonishing  how  soon  they  acquire 
the  useful  arts  from  their  visitors.  Many  of 
the  natives  are  employed  as  carpenters,  coop- 
ers, blacksmiths,  and  tailors,  and  do  then*  worli 
as  perfectly  as  Europeans. 

In  the  king's  forge  there  were  none  but  na- 
tive blacksmiths  ;  they  had  been  taught  by  the 
armourer  of  a  ship,  who  quitted  the  island 
while  I  was  there. 

Almost  all  their  dealings  are  conducted  by 
barter ;  they  know  the  value  of  dollars,  and 
are  willing  to  take  them  in  exchange  ;  but 
they  seldom  appear  again  in  circulation,  being 
always  carefully  hoarded  up. 

Vessels  are  supplied  with  fresh  provisions, 
live-stock,  salt,  and  other  articles  of  outfit,  for 
which  they  give  in  return  cloth,  fire-arms,  and 
ammunition,  the  teeth  of  the  sea-lion,  carpen- 
ter's tools,  hardware,  and,  in  general,  Europe- 
an articles  of  every  description. 

Sandal- wood,  pearls,  and  mother-of-pearl 
shells,  are  also  the  produce  of  these  islands, 
and  are  frequently  purchased  for  the  China 
market. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Russians  will,  in  fu- 
ture, derive  from  hence  the  principal  supphes 
of  provisions  for  their  setdements  on  the  Fox 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLB-    145 

ijslaiids,  and  northwest  coast  of  America,  and 
even  Kamschatka. 

With  the  island  of  Atooi  the  natives  carry 
on  a  considerable  trade.  The  inhabitants  of 
Wahoo  excel  in  making  taper  or  cloth,  whilst 
those  of  Atooi  excel  in  canoes,  paddles,  and 
spears,  and  they  very  often  make  exchanges 
in  these  articles. 

Owing  to  the  number  of  ships  that  are  con- 
stantly touching  at  these  islands,  provisions 
are  by  no  means  cheap.  A  pig  is  estimated 
by  its  length.  The  largest  size,  called  poa- 
nana,  or  fathom  pig,  measures  that  length  from 
the  snout  to  the  rump,  and  is  valued  at  two 
axes ;  a  junk  of  the  thickest  part  of  the  sea-horse 
tooth,  five  or  six  inches  long,  a  yard  and  a  half 
pf  blue  cloth,  or  five  dollars. 

Those  that  measure  from  the  elbow  to  the 
opposite  hand,  are  valued  at  one  axe,  or  about 
half  the  price  of  the  larger  size.  A  sheep  or 
goat  may  be  had  for  a  smaller  piece  of  ivory ; 
a  maro,  or  a  pair  of  fowls,  for  a  knife,  a  pair 
of  scissors,  or  small  mirror. 

From  their  earliest  years,  the  natives  spend 

much  of  their  spare  time  in   the  water,  and 

constant  practice  renders  them  so  dexterous, 

that  they  seem  as  much  at  their  ease  in  that 
^13 


146         VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

element  as  on  land ;  they  often  swim  several 
miles  off  to  ships,  sometimes  resting  upon  a 
plank  shaped  like  an  anchor  stock,  and  pad- 
dling with  their  hands,  but  more  frequently 
without  any  assistance  whatever. 

Although  sharks  are  numerous  in  these  seas, 
I  never  heard  of  any  accident  from  them, 
which  I  attribute  to  the  dexterity  with  which 
they  avoid  their  attacks. 

Throwing  the  top  shoots  of  the  sugar-cane 
at  each  other,  and  catching  them  in  their 
flight,  is  a  favorite  amusement,  the  practice  of 
which  tends  to  render  them  very  expert  in  the 
use  of  the  spear. 

Dancing,  wrestling,  and  foot  races,  are  also 
common  amusements,  particularly  at  macaheite 
time. 

The  dances  are  principally  performed  by 
women,  who  form  themselves  into  solid 
squares,  ten  or  twelve  each  way,  and  keep 
time  to  the  sound  of  the  drum,  accompanied 
by  a  song,  in  which  they  all  join.  In  dancing 
they  seldom  move  their  feet,  but  throw  them- 
selves into  a  variety  of  attitudes,  sometimes 
all  squatting,  and  at  other  times  springing  up 
at  the  same  instant.  A  man  in  front  with 
strings  of  shells  on  his  ankles  and  wrists,  with 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    147 

which  he  marks  time,  acts  as  fugel-man.  On 
these  occasions  the  women  display  all  their 
finery,  particularly  in  European  clothes,  if  they 
are  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  any.  They  re- 
ceived great  applause  from  the  spectators,  who 
frequently  burst  into  immoderate  fits  of  laugh- 
ter, at  particular  parts  of  the  song. 

They  have  a  game  somewhat  resembling 
draughts,  but  more  complicated.  It  is  played 
upon  a  board  about  twenty-two  inches  by 
fourteen,  painted  black,  with  white  spots,  on 
which  the  men  are  placed  ;  these  consist  of 
black  and  white  pebbles,  eighteen  upon  each 
side,  and  the  game  is  won  by  the  capture  of 
the  adversary's  pieces. 

Tamaahmaah  excels  at  this  game.  I  have 
seen  him  sit  for  hours  playing  with  his  chiefs, 
giving  an  occasional  smile,  but  without  utter- 
ing a  word.  I  could  not  play,  but  William 
Moxely,  who  understood  it  well,  told  me  that 
he  had  seen  none  who  could  beat  the  kins. 

The  game  of  draughts  is  now  introduced, 
and  ihe  natives  play  it  uncommonly  well. 

Flying  kites  is  another  favorite  amusement. 
They  make  them  of  taper,  of  the  usual  shape, 
but  uncommon  size,  many  of  them  being 
fifteen  or  sixteen  feet   in  length,  and  six  or 


14S    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

seven  in  breadth ;  they  have  often  three  oi^ 
four  hundred  fathom  of  line,  and  are  so  diffi- 
cult to  hold,  that  they  ai'e  obliged  to  tie  them 
to  trees. 

The  only  employment  I  ever  saw  Tamena, 
tlie  queen,  engaged  in,  was  making  these 
kites. 

A  theatre  was  erected  under  the  direction 
of  James  Beattie,  the  king's  block-maker, 
wdio  had  been  at  one  time  on  the  stage  in 
England.  The  scenes  representing  a  castle 
and  a  forest  were  constructed  of  different 
coloured  pieces  of  taper,  cut  out  and  pasted 
together. 

I  was  present  on  one  occasion,  at  the  per- 
formance of  Oscar  and  JMalvina.  This  piece 
was  originally  a  pantomime,  but  here  it  had 
words  written  for  it  by  Beattie.  The  part 
of  JMalvina  was  performed  by  the  wife  of 
Isaac  Davis.  As  her  knowledge  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  was  very  limited,  extending 
only  to  the  words  yes  and  no,  her  speeches 
were  confined  to  these  monosyllables.  She^ 
however,  acted  her  part  with  great  applause. 
The  Fingalian  heroes  were  represented  by 
natives  clothed  in  the  Highland  garb,  also 
made  out  of  taper,  and  armed  w  ith  muskets. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  149 

The  audience  did  not  seem  to  understand 
the  play  well,  but  were  greatly  delighted  with 
the  after-piece,  representing  a  naval  engage- 
ment. The  ships  were  armed  with  bamboo 
cannon,  and  each  of  them  fired  a  broadside, 
by  means  of  a  train  of  thread  dipped  in  salt- 
petre, which  communicated  with  each  gun, 
after  which  one  of  the  vessels  blew  up.  Un- 
fortunately, the  explosion  set  fire  to  the  forest, 
and  had  nearly  consumed  the  theatre. 

The  ceremonies  that  took  place  upon  the 
death  of  a  chief  have  been  already  described. 
The  bodies  of  the  dead  are  always  disposed 
of  secretly,  and  I  never  could  learn  where 
they  were  interred.  M3^  patroness,  the  queen, 
preserved  the  bones  of  her  father,  wrapt  up 
in  a  piece  of  cloth.  When  she  slept  in  her 
own  house  they  were  placed  by  her  side  ;  in 
her  absence  they  were  placed  on  a  feather 
bed  she  had  received  from  the  captain  of  a 
ship,  and  which  was  only  used  for  this  pur- 
pose. When  I  asked  her  the  reason  of  this 
singular  custom,  she  replied,  "  it  was  because 
she  loved  her  father  so  dearly." 

When  the  king  goes  to  war,  I  understand 
that  every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms  must 
13* 


150    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

follow  his  chief:  for  which  purpose  they  are 
all  trained  from  their  youth  to  the  use  of  arms. 
I  saw  nothing  like  a  regular  armed  force,  ex- 
cept a  guai'd  of  aboiu  fifty  men.  who  constant- 
ly did  duty  at  the  king's  residence.  There 
were  about  twenty  of  them  on  guard  daily, 
but  the  only  sentry  which  they  posted  was  at 
the  powder  magazine.  At  night  he  regularly 
called  out  every  hour,  '•  All's  well." 

They  were  armed  with  muskets  and  bayon- 
ets, but  had  DO  uniform :  their  cartridge- 
boxes,  which  were  made  by  the  king's  work- 
men, are  of  wood,  about  thirteen  inches  long, 
rounded  to  the  shape  of  the  body,  and  cover- 
ed with  hide. 

1  have  seen  those  guards  at  their  exercise: 
rapidity,  and  not  precision,  seemed  to  be  their 
great  object.  The  men  stood  at  extended  or- 
der, and  fired  as  fast  as  they  coidd,  beating 
the  butt  upon  the  ground,  and  coming  to  the 
recover  without  using  the  ramrod ;  each  man 
gave  the  word  ••  fire,'*  before  he  drew  the  trig- 
ger. 

The  natives  of  these  islands  have  been  ac- 
cused of  being  cannibals :  but  as  far  as  I 
could  judge,  either  from  my  own  observa- 
^tion,  or  from  the  enquiries  I  made,  I  believe 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    151 

the  accusation  to  be  perfectly  destitute  of  foun- 
dation. Isaac  Davis,  who  had  the  best  means 
of  knowing,  having  resided  there  more  than 
twenty  years,  and  who  had  been  present  and 
borne  a  share  in  all  their  wars,  declared  to  me 
most  pointedly,  that  "  it  was  all  lies — that 
there  never  had  been  cannibals  there  since 
they  were  islands." 

From  a  perusal  of  the  foregoing  pages,  it 
will  be  seen,  that  these  islanders  have  acquired 
many  of  the  useful  arts,  and  are  making  rapid 
progress  towards  civilization.  Much  nmst  be 
ascribed,  no  doubt,  to  their  natural  ingenuity 
and  miwearied  industry  ;  but  great  part  of  the 
merit  must  also  be  ascribed  to  the  unceasing 
exertions  of  Tamaahmaah,  whose  enlarged 
mind  has  enabled  him  to  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantages resulting  from  an  intercourse  with 
Europeans,  and  he  has  prosecuted  that  object 
with  the  utmost  eagerness. 

The  unforlmiate  death  of  captain  Cook, 
and  the  frequent  murders  committed  by  the 
natives  on  navigators,  particularly  in  Wahoo, 
in  which  Lieutenant  Hengist,  and  Mr.  Gooch, 
astronomer  of  the  Daedalus,  Messrs.  Brown 
and  Gordon,  masters  of  the  ships  Jackall  and 
Prince  Le  Boo,  lost  their  lives,  gave  such  ideas 


152         VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

of  the  sayage  nature  of  the  inhabitants,  that 
for  many  years  few  ships  would  venture  to 
touch  at  these  islands.* 

But  since  Tamaahmaah  has  established  his 
power,  he  has  regulated  his  conduct  by  such 
strict  rules  of  justice,  that  strangers  find  them- 
selves as  safe  in  his  port  as  in  those  of  any  ci- 
^  ilized  nation. 

Although  always  anxious  to  induce  white 
people  to  remain,  he  gives  no  encouragement 
to  desertion,  nor  does  he  ever  attempt  to  de- 
tain those  who  wish  to  depart. 

In  1809  the  king  seemed  about  fifty  years 
of  age  ;  he  is  a  stout,  well-made  man,  rather 
darker  in  the  complexion  than  the  natives 
usually  are.  and  wants  two  of  his  front  teeth. 
The  expression  of  his  countenance  is  agree- 
able, and  he  is  mild  and  affable  in  his  man- 

*  The  editor  has  not  thought  himself  at  liberty  to  alter  the  ortho. 
graphy  of  the  king's  name  adopted  by  Vancouver  and  Broughton. 
Although,  to  his  ear,  it  woiUd  be  more  correctly  Tameamea.  Every 
voyager  has  spelt  it  in  a  different  manner.  Captain  King  has  spelt 
it  Maiha  Maiha ;  Mr.  Samwell,  the  surgeon  of  the  Discovery,  who 
published  an  account  of  Captain  Cook's  death,  Cameamea ;  Port- 
locke,  Comaamaa ;  Meares,  Tomyhomyhaw  ;  Vancouver  and 
Broughton,  Tamaahmaah  ;  Lisianski,  Hameamea  ;  Langsdorf,  To- 
niooma  ;  and  TurnbuU,  Tamahama.  As  the  hard  sound  of  C  and 
T  is  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  lan- 
guage, and  the  h  is  silent,  the  reader,  from  a  comparison,  will  &e 
able  to  ascertain  the  most  correct  way. 


VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD.  153 

ners,  and  possesses  great  warmth  of  feeling ; 
for  I  have  seen  him  shed  tears  upon  the  de- 
partm-e  of  those  to  whom   he   was  attached, 
and  has  the  art  of  attaching  others  to  him- 
self.    Although  a  conquerer,  he  is   extremely 
popular  among  his  subjects ;  and  not  without 
reason,  for  since  he  attained  the  supreme  pow- 
er, they  have  enjoyed  repose  and  prosperity. 
He  has  amassed  a  considerable  treasure  in  dol- 
lars, and  possesses  a  large  stock  of  European 
articles  of  every  description,  particularly  arms 
and  ammunition  ;  these  he  has  acquired  by 
trading  with  the  ships  tliat  call  at  the  islands. 
He  understands  perfectly  wdl  hov/  to  make  a 
bargain ;  but  is  unjustly  accused  of  wishing 
to  over-reach  in  his   dealings.     I  never  knew 
of  his  taking  any  undue  advantages;  on  the 
contrary,  he  is  distinguished  for  upright  and 
honourable  Conduct  in  all  his  transactions. — 
War,  not  commerce,  seems  to  be  his  principal 
motive  in  forming  so  extensive  a  navy.     Be- 
ing at  peace,  his  fleet  was  laid  up  in  ordinary 
during  the  whole  time  of  ray  stay.     When  he 
chooses  to  fit  it  out,  he  will  find  no  difficulty 
in  manning  his  vessels.     Independently  of  the 
number   of  white  people    he  has  constantly 
about  him,  and  who  are  almost  all  sailors,  he 


IH         VOYAGE  ROUxND  THE  WORLD. 

will  find,  even  among  his  own  subjects,  many 
good  seamen.  He  encourages  them  to  make 
voyages  in  the  ships  that  are  constantly  touch- 
ing at  the  islands,  and  many  of  them  have 
been  as  far  as  China,  the  northwest  coast  of 
America,  and  even  the  United  States.  In  a 
very  short  time  they  become  useful  hands,  ^nd 
continue  so  as  long  as  they  remain  in  warm 
climates ;  but  they  are  not  capable  of  stand- 
ing the  effects  of  cold. 

During  my  stay  the  building  of  the  navy 
was  suspended,  the  king's  workmen  being  em- 
ployed in  erecting  a  house,  in  the  European 
style,  for  his  residence  at  Hanaroora.  When 
1  came  away,  the  walls  were  as  high  as  the 
top  of  the  first  story. 

His  family  consisted  of  the  two  queens,  who 
are  sisters,  and  a  young  girl,  the  daughter  of  a 
chief,  destined  to  the  same  rank.  He  had  two 
sons  alive,  one  about  fifteen,  and  the  other 
about  ten  years  of  age,  and  a  daughter,  born 
when  I  was  upon  the  island. 

The  queen  was  delivered  about  midnight, 
and  the  event  was  instantly  announced  by  a 
salute  of  sixteen  guns,  being  a  round  of  the 
battery  in  front  of  the  house. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  155 

I  was  informed  by  Isaac  Davis,  that  his  el- 
dest son  had  been  put  to  death  by  his  orders  in 
consequence  of  criuiinal  connexion  with  one 
of  his  wives.  This  took  place  before  he  fixed 
his  residence  at  Wahoo. 

His  mode  of  life  has  already  been  described. 
He  sometimes  dressed  himself  in  the  European 
fashion,  but  more  frequently  laid  aside  his 
clothes,  and  gave  them  to  an  attendant^  con- 
tenting himself  with  the  maro.  Another  at- 
tendant carried  a  fan,  made  of  feathers,  for  the 
purpose  of  brushing  away  the  flies  ;  whilst  a 
third  carried  his  spit-box,  which  was  set  round 
with  human  teeth,  and  had  belonged,  as  I  was 
told,  to  several  of  his  predecessors. 

It  is  said  that  he  w  as  at  one  time  strongly 

addicted  to  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  ;  but  that, 

finding  the  evil  consequences  of  the  practice, 
he  had  resolution  enough  to  abandon   it.     I 

never  saw  him  pass  the  bounds  of  the  strictest 
temperance. 

His  queen,  Tamena,  had  not  the  same  re- 
solution ;  and  although,  wiien  he  was  present, 
she  durst  not  exceed,  she  generally  availed  her- 
self of  his  absence  in  the  morai  to  indulge  her 
propensity  for  liquor,  and  seldom  stopped  short 
of  intoxication.     Two  Aleutian  women  had 


156  VOYAGE  ROUxNT)  THE  WORLD. 

been  left  on  the  island,  and  were  favorite  com- 
panions of  hers.  It  was  a  common  amuse- 
ment to  make  them  drunk ;  but,  by  the  end 
of  the  entertainment,  her  majesty  was  gene- 
rally in  the  same  situation. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.    137 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Departure  from  Wahoo — Pass  Otalieite — Double  Cape- 
Horn — Arrival  at  Rio  Janeiro — Transactions  there,  du- 
ring a  residence  of  nearly  two  years — Voyage  home — 
and  from  thence  to  the  United  States. 

The  ship  in  which  I  left  the  Sandwich 
islands  was  called  the  Duke  of  Pordand, 
commanded  by  captain  Spence.  She  had 
procured  a  cargo  of  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty-  tons  of  seal  oil,  and  eleven  thousand 
skins,  at  the  island  of  Guadaloupe,  on  the 
coast  of  California,  and  had  put  into  Wahoo 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  refreshments. 

Every  thing  being  ready,  we  sailed  from  Ha- 
naroora  on  the  4th  of  March,  and  stood  to  the 
southward  with  pleasant  weather. 

In  the  beginning  of  April  we  descried  the 
mountains  of  Otaheite,  but  did  not  touch  at 
that  island. 

About  a  week  before  we  doubled  Cape 
Horn,  w^e  saw  two  large  whales,  and  the  boats 
were  hoisted  out  in  the  hope  of  taking  them, 
but  it  began  to  blow  so  hard  that  the  attempt 
proved  unsuccessful. 
14 


158  VOYAGE  ROUxXD  THE  WORLD. 

Early  in  May  we  passed  Cape  Horn  :  the 
captain  stood  as  far  south  as  the  latitude  of 
60,  and  we  never  saw  the  land.  Although 
the  season  was  far  advanced  we  did  not  ex- 
perience the  smallest  difficulty  in  this  part  of 
the  voyage. 

A  few  days  afterwards  we  made  the  Falk- 
land islands  ;  the  land  is  of  great  height,  and 
seems  perfectly  barren. 

Upon  the  25th  we  saw  the  coast  of  Brazil, 
and  next  day  entered  the  harbour  of  Rio 
Janeiro. 

Being  apprehensive  of  a  mortification  in 
my  legs,  I  applied  for  admission  into  the 
English  hospital,  which  is  situated  in  a  small 
island  that  lies  off  the  harbour.  V\lien  cap- 
tain Spence,  who  took  me  thither  in  his  boat, 
mentioned  that  I  had  lost  my  feet  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Americans,  he  was  informed,  that 
since  that  u  as  the  case,  I  must  apply  to  them 
to  take  care  of  me. 

1  then  went  on  board  an  American  brig, 
called  the  Lion,  the  captain  of  which  directed 
me  to  call  on  Mr.  Baulch,  the  consul  for  that 
nation  ;  by  his  interest  I  was  admitted  into  the 
Portuguese  hospital,  de  la  miserecordc. 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  159 

During  the  whole  voyage  I  experienced 
the  utmost  attention  and  kindness  from  the 
captain  and  crew  of  the  Duke  of  Pordand  ; 
and  when  I  quitted  them  they  did  not  leave 
me  unprovided  for  in  a  strange  country  ;  they 
raised  a  subscription,  amounting  to  fifty  dol- 
lars, which  was  paid  into  the  hands  of  the 
Portuguese  agent  on  my  account. 

I  remained  in  the  hospital  ten  weeks;  the 
Portuguese  surgeons,  although  they  could  not 
effect  a  cure,  afforded  me  considerable  relief, 
and  I  was  dismissed  as  well  as  I  ever  expected 
to  be. 

I  was  now  in  a  different  situation  from  what 
I  had  been  either  at  Kodiak  or  the  Sandwich 
islands  ;  I  was  in  a  civilized  comitry,  in 
which  1  must  earn  my  subsistence  by  my 
own  industry  ;  but  here,  as  well  as  there,  I 
was  under  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence, 
and  in  all  my  misfortunes,  I  found  friends  who 
were  disposed  to  assist  me. 

Mr.  Baulch,  the  American  consul,  gave  me 
ajar  of  the  essence  of  spruce,  which  I  brewed 
into  beer ;  and  having  hired  a  negro  with  a 
canoe,  I  went  about  the  ships,  furnishing  them 
with  that,  and  other  small  articles  of  refresh- 
ment. 


i60    VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

While  engaged  in  this  employment,  I  went 
on  board  the  ship  Otter,  returning  from  the 
South  Seas,  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Jo- 
behn,  whom  1  had  seen  in  the  same  vessel  at 
the  Sandwich  islands.  He  informed  me  that 
he  had  visited  Wahoo  a  few  months  after  my 
departure,  and  found  all  my  friends  in  good 
health,  except  Isaac  Davis,  who  had  departed 
this  life  after  a  short  illness. 

In  this  manner  I  was  not  only  enabled  to 
support  myself,  but  even  to  save  a  litde  money. 
I  afterwards  hired  a  house  at  the  rent  of  four 
milreas  a  month,  and  set  up  a  tavern  and  board- 
ing house  for  sailors ;  this  undertaking  not 
proving  successful,  I  gave  it  up  for  a  butcher's 
stall,  in  which  I  was  chiefly  employed  in  sup- 
plying the  ships  with  fresh  meat.  This  busi- 
ness proved  a  very  good  one,  and  I  was  san- 
guine in  my  hopes  of  being  able  to  raise  a  small 
sum ;  but  an  unfortunate  circumstance  took 
place,  w  hich  damped  all  my  hopes,  and  re- 
duced me  again  to  a  state  of  poverty. 

In  the  night  of  the  24th  July,  my  home  was 
broken  into,  and  I  w  as  robbed  of  every  farthing 
I  had,  as  well  as  of  all  my  clothes. 

As  the  purchase  of  carcasses  required  some 
capital,  I  was  under   the  necessity  of  giving 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  l6l 

up  my  stall  for  the  present.  I  again  took 
myself  to  my  old  trade  of  keeping  a  bum-boat, 
till  I  had  saved  as  much  as  enabled  me  to  set 
up  the  stall  again. 

1  was  much  assisted  by  the  good  offices  of 
agendeman  from  Edinburgh,  of  the  name  of 
Lavvrie,  who  resided  in  my  neighbourhood ; 
he  took  great  interest  in  my  welfare,  and 
was  of  essential  service  by  recommending 
me  to  ships,  as  well  as  by  occasionally  ad- 
vancing a  little  money  to  enable  me  to  pur- 
chase a  carcase. 

The  state  of  my  health,  however,  prevented 
me  from  availing  myself  of  the  advantages  of 
my  situation  ;  the  sores  in  my  legs,  although 
relieved,  had  never  healed,  and  gradually 
became  so  painful  as  to  affect  my  health,  and 
render  me  unable  to  attend  to  any  business. 

In  consequence  of  this,  I  determined  to  re- 
turn home,  in  hopes  of  having  the  cure  effec- 
tually performed  in  my  native  country. 

On  the  5th  of  February.  1812,  I  quitted 
Rio  Janeiro,  after  a  stay  of  twenty- two 
months.  I  came  home  in  the  brig  Hazard, 
captain  Anderson,  and  arrived  in  the  Clyde 
on  the  21st  of  April,  after  an  absence  of  near- 
ly six  years. 

14* 


162        VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

After  residing  nearly  four  years  in  my  na- 
tive country,  and  having  still  a  desb'e  to  visit 
the  Sandwich  islands,  I  left  Scotland,  in  the 
American  ship  Independence,  commanded 
by  captain  John  Thomas,  on  the  3d  of  Sep- 
tember, 1816,  for  New-York.  We  had  sixty- 
three  passengers,  and  after  a  very  tedious 
voyage  of  fifty-three  days,  we  arrived  in  good 
health  at  our  port  of  destination.  I  had 
been  led  to  beheve  that  I  should  find  no 
difficulty  in  getting  a  passage  to  the  Sand- 
wich islands  from  New^-York  ;  but  after  a 
short  residence  there,  I  did  not  see  any  pros- 
pect of  obtaining  a  conveyance  thither.  My 
funds  growing  low^  I  commenced  soliciting 
subscribers  for  my  work.  In  this  I  met  with 
considerable  success,  and  was  enabled  to 
publish  an  edition  of  one  thousand  copies. 
But  on  account  of  the  ulcers  in  my  legs  never 
healing,  and  being  apprehensive  of  mortifica- 
tion, I  w^as  deterred  from  proceeding  any  farther. 
I  therefore  applied  to  the  governors  of  the 
New- York  city  hospital  for  admittance,  with 
the  intention  of  having  my  legs  amputated 
higher  up,  so  that  1  might  not  be  troubled 
with  them  in  future.  I  was  accordingly  ad- 
mitted on  the  4th  of  November,  Ibll ;    and 


VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD.  l63 

on  the  20th  of  the  same  month,  one  of  my 
legs  was  taken  off  a  little  below  the  knee. 
The  second  operation  w^as  performed  on  the 
17th  of  January  following;  and  I  was  ena- 
bled to  leave  the  hospital  on  the  3d  of  April, 
1818. 

I  still  wished  to  return  to  the  Sandwich 
islands,  and  having  so  far  recovered  as  to 
be  able  to  walk  about  with  considerable  ease, 
and  the  favourable  appearance  of  my  wounds 
indicating  a  thorough  cure,  I  therefore  made 
application  to  several  gentlemen  in  New- 
York,  by  whose  means  my  intentions  were 
represented  to  the  Prudential  Committee  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foregn  Missions.  By  their  advice  I  removed 
to  the  institution  belonging  to  that  body,  at 
Cornwall,  Litchfield  county,  Connecticut,  in 
order  that  1  might  there  study  under  the  Rev. 
Herman  Daggett,  and  that  I  might  become 
acquainted  with  several  young  men,  in  that 
place  from  the  Sandwich  islands  ;  to  the  end, 
that  if  ever  it  should  please  Divine  Providence 
to  permit  me  to  visit  those  islands  again,  I 
might  be  able  to  render  them  and  the  cause  of 
religion,  all  the  assistance  that  lay  in  my 
power,  and  that  my  influence  might  be  ex- 


164  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

crted  on  the  side  of  virtue ;  and,  above  all 
things,  that  I  might  be  instrumental  in  for- 
warding the  introduction  of  missionaries  into 
those  dark  and  benighted  islands  of  the  sea. 


APPENDIX. 


T©©A3t^AmT 


OP    THE 


LANGUAGE  OF  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 


APPENDIX  No.  I. 


OF  THE 

LANGUAGE  OF  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

L\  pronouncing  the  words  as  spelt  in  the  vocabulary, 
all  letters  must  be  sounded,  with  the  exceptions  after 
mentioned. 

In  sounding  the  vowels,  A  has  always  the  sound  of  the 
initial  and  final  letter  in  the  word  Arabia. 

E,  as  in  the  word  eloquence,  or  the  final  Y  m  plenty. 

The  double  E,  as  in  keep. 

I,  as  in  the  word  indolence. 

O,  as  in  the  word/brw?. 

The  double  O,  as  in  boot,  good. 

U,  as  in  the  word  but. 

The  diphthongs  Ai.  as  the  vowel  sounds  in  tye,  fiy,  or 
the  I  in  diameter. 

Ei,  as  in  the  word  height. 

Oi,  as  in  the  word  oil. 

Ow,  as  in  the  word  cow. 


1G8 


APPENDIX. 


All  other  combinations  of  vowels  are  to  be  sounded 
separately ;  thus,  oe,  you,  and  roa,  distant,  are  dissyl- 
lables. 

In  sounding  the  consonants,  H  is  always  aspirated  ;  the 
letters  K  and  T,  L  and  R,  B  and  P,  are  frequently  substi- 
tuted for  each  other. 

Thus,  kanaka,  tanata,  people  j  ooroo,  ooloo,  bread- 
fruit ;  boa,  poa,  a  hog. 

Where  the  words  are  separated  by  a  comma,  they  are 
sj^nonymous,  and  either  may  be  used  5  but  where  there  is 
no  comma,  both  must  be  used. 

Example.     Taafe,  Keike  tanne,  a  boy. 

It  frequentl}^  happens  that  the  same  word  is  repeated 
twice,  in  which  case  it  is  connected  with  a  hyphen  5  thus 
leepe-leepe,  an  axe. 

'  A  . 


Above 

Aroona 

Adze 

Toe 

Afraid 

Macaoo 

After  me,  come 
Afterwards 

Mamooraao,  peemaio 
Mamoore 

Agreable 

Naicee-naicee 

American,  an 
Angry 

Tanata,  Merikana 
Hoohoo 

Arm,  the 

Poheva 

Arrow 

Eeoome 

Ashore 
At 

Ayooka 
Eia 

Avaricious 
Aunt 

Peepere 
Titooa  waheine 

Axe 

Apple 

Leepe-kepe 
O.ieea 

APPENDIX.                             IG 

B 

Back,  the 

Tooata 

Back,  to  carry  on 

Eoaha 

Bad 

Eeno,  heva,  nooe-nooe  heva 

Bad  man 

Kanaka  poopoota 

Bald 

Oopoboota 

Bamboo 

Ohe 

Bark 

Hohore 

Battle 

Emutta 

Bed 

Moena 

Beard 

Oome-oome 

Beat  a  drum,  to 

Erokoo 

Bee 

Narro 

Bees  wax 

Tootai  narro 

Begone 

Hiere  piero  oe 

Behind 

Temoore 

Belly 

Manaoo,  opoe 

Belch 

Erooee 

Below 

Deerro 

Between" 

Feropoo 

Bird 

Mannoo 

Biscuit 

Bikete 

Bitter 

Ava-ava 

Black 

Ere-ere 

Bladder 

Toa-meeme 

Blind 

Mukapa 

Block,  pully 

Pockaka 

Blood 

Toto 

Board,  or  plank  to  swim  on     Fapa 

Board,  on 

Aroona 

Bone 

Oohe   • 

15 

170 

APPENDIX. 

Bonetta,  a  fish  so  called 

Fehe  rera 

Bottom 

Okoree 

Bowl,  wooden 

Jpoina 

Boy 

Taate,  keike  iannee 

Boy,  a  familiar  way 

of  speak- 

ing 

Heimanne 

Bracelet  of  shells 

Teepoo 

Bread-fruit 

Ooroo-ooloo 

Break,  to 

Anaha 

Breast 

Ooma 

Blue 

Ooree-ooree 

Bring  me 

Feemai 

Broken 

Motoo 

Brother 

Keike  tanee 

Brown 

Aoora  oora 

Bucket 

Tabahoo 

Button 

Opeehee,  hooboo 

Buttons,  string  of 

Poreema 

Buy,  to 

Tooai 

c 

Cabbage 

Tabete 

Calabash 

Areepo 

Calm 

Maneeno 

Cannon 

Poo  nooee 

Canoe,  single 

Evaha 

Canoe,  double 

Makarooa 

Captain  of  a  ship 

Eree  te  motoo 

Care,  to  take 

Malamma 

Carry,  to 

Famo 

Cat 

Bobokee 

Cheerful 

Warra-warra 

APPENDIX. 


m 


Cheeks 

Chief 

Chest 

Chicken 

Child 

Child-bearing 

Cider 

Clean 

Cloak,  or  upper  garment 

Cloth,  also  clothes 

Cloth-plant 

Circumcision 

Cock 

Cockroach 

Cocoa  nut 

Cold 

Come 

Come  here 

Come  with  me 

Contempt,  a  term  of 

Conversation 

Cooked,  or  baked 

Coyness  in  a  woman 

Cough,  to 

Country  the 

Country,  foreign,  generally 

applied  to  Britain 
Cow 
Crab 

Crab,  particular  kinds  of 
Cray  fish 
Crimson 


Papareena 

Eree 

Pake 

Moa  Una 

Keike,  kumaree 

Hemo  te  keike 

Wyoheea 

Ooama 

Teahoota,  tapa 

Tapa 

Eaootee 

Poohe 

Moa  tannee 

Patte-patte 

Caneeo 

Anoo 

Here 

Here  mai  ■ 

Peemai  taroo 

Poopootay  poopooka 

Para  paroo 

Oomoaroa 

Nonoa 

Ehapoo 

Ayooca 

Caheite 
Peepe-nooe 
Pappee 

Epoofoo,  peho9 
Pehe  oora 
Oora-oora 


172 


APPENDIX. 


Cry  to,  or  weep 
Cured,  it  is 

Cut;    to 


Taee 

Oraroa 

Hakee-hakee 


Dance,  t© 

Dark^ 

Day 

Day,  to 

Dead 

Delicious 

Demon,  or  devil 

Dig,  to 

Dirt 

Distant 

Dive,  to 

Dog 

Dolphin 

Door 

Done,  or  finished 

Drink,  to 

Drunk 

Drum 

Duck 

Dusk,  or  twilight 

Dwell,  t« 


D 

Ehoora-Jioora 

Poa  rere 

Poa 

Aeea  poa 

Maker  oa 

Hiinnoo  onnoo 

Etooa  keva 

Maiai 

Total,  erepo 

Roa,  maroa 

Eeliopoo-poo 

Edea  cao 

Oona 

Poola 

Poaroa 

Aeeno 

Honnoo 

Palioo 

Mora 

Hoi-hoi  te  poa 

EnoJio 


Earth 
Ears 


Ehonooa 
PepeaoOf  tareea 


APPENDIX.                             1 

Eat,  to 

Eeai 

Eels,  or  sea-snakes 

Hoohe 

Egg 

Ehooeero 

Egg,  sea 

Neeootai 

England 

Pritane,  Kaheite 

Englishman 

Kanaka  Pritane^  Kanaka 

Kaheite 

Enough 

Maoona 

Enter,  to 

Marolconai 

Evening 

Ahee-ahee 

European 

Ehoorei 

Eyes 

Maka 

Eyebrow- 

Tooa  maka 

Excrement 

Tootai 

F 

False 

Waha  he,  heva 

Fan,  a 

Taheina 

Fan,  to 

Taharee 

Father 

Mokooa  tonne 

Fathom 

Anana 

Farewell 

Aroho-oe 

Pat 

Peea 

Fear 

Matao 

Feathers 

Hooroo,  hooroo  mannp 

Feather  necklace 

Araia 

Feeble 

Faeera 

Feet 

Wawye 

Female 

Waheine 

Fetch  hither 

Heire  mat,  peemai 

Fin  of  a  fish 

Tirra  pehe 

173 


15' 


174. 

APPENDDC. 

Fine 

Eahe 

Fingers 

Tereema 

Fish 

Pehe 

Fish,  a  parti 

cular  kind  of        Ava 

Flying  fish 

Pehe  or  era 

Fish,  to 

Ehootee 

Fist 

Amootoo 

Flat 

Papa 

Flea 

Ookoo  rere 

Flower,  a 

Pooa  mono 

Fly,  to 

Arere 

Fly,  a 

Enarra 

Forgot 

Ooaro 

Fowl 

Moa 

Fresh 

Onoo 

Friend 

Heitanne,  poonarooa 

Fruit 

Hooero 

G 


Garment  worn  by  the  women  Paoo 


Generous 

Girdle 

Girdle  worn  by  the  men 

Girl 

Give,  to 

Go 

Goat 

God 

Good 

Good  morning 

Good  night 


Horoa 

Tatooa 

Maro 

Keike  icaheina 

Mukunna 

Heire 

PeepeKoa 

Eiooa 

Meitei 

Myiy  kakee  aka 

Myty  ahee  ahee 


APPENDIX. 

Grandfather 
Grandmother 

Poopooa  tanne 
Topooa  waheine 

Gray 

Alieena  keena 

Grass 

Moo 

Grass,  broad  leaved, 

ofwhich 

lines  and  nets  are 

made 

Oorana 

Grasshopper 

Fepe  re^a 

Great 

Nooe-nooe 

Green 

Omomo9 

Gun 

Poo 

175 


H 


Hair 

Lavo  hoo 

Handkerchief 

Hanetka 

Hands 

Reema 

Handsome 

Meitei 

Harbour 

Aeeva,  too-toQ 

Hard 

How 

Haste,  make 

Weete-iceete 

Has,  past  time 

Ron 

Hat 

Pajparee 

Have 

Havee 

Head 

Po 

He  or  she 

Oera 

H  earing 

Faro 

Heart 

Ekoftoo,  teate 

Heat,  or  hot 

Mahanna 

Heat  of  the  sun 

Mahanna  fee  LaoQ 

Helmet 

Mayoree 

Hen 

Moa  waheine 

176 

APPENDIX. 

Herb,  used  by  white 

people 

for  tea 

Nehe 

Here 
Hermaphrodite 

Mai 
Mahoo 

Hide,  to 
High 

Ehoona 
Roehee 

Hill 

Farei 

Hog 

Poa,  boa 

Hold  your  tongue 

Koore-koore  oe 

Hole 

Pooka 

Hook  for  fishing 

Mattoo 

Hook,  made  of  ivory,  worn 

as  an  ornament 

Palava 

Horse 

Edea  nooee 

House 

Harree,  eharee 

House  (sleeping) 

Havre,  moe 

House  (eating) 

Havre  eai 

How  are  you 

Avohooe 

Hungry 

Povove 

Husband 

Tanne 

I,  my,  or  me 

Waoo,  tawa 

Jacket 

Teakete 

Interjection  of  grief 

Avoha  eenoo 

Interjection  of  admiration 

Taa  ha  ha 

Iron 

How 

Island 

Motoo 

Itch,  to 

Mairo 

APPENDIX. 


irf 


K 


Keep 
Kill 

King 
Knife 
Know 


Vaihec 

Papahee,  matte-matte  make- 

roa 
Eree  nooee 

Okee-okee,  kanee-Jcanee 
Nono,  eete 


Lame 

0-opa 

Land 

Ayooka 

Land  cultivated 

Aiena 

Laugh 

Aitaha 

Lazy 

M  yjlaioa 

Lean,  not  fat 

Amapoo 

Legs 

Waivye 

Let  me  see 

Meene-meene,  nanna 

Lie,  to  tell  a 

Ptcne-poone 

Light,  not  heavy 

Eamma 

Lightning 

Heaioeetoh 

Lines 

Tjwra 

Lips 

Lehe-lehe 

Little 

Pckene,  oo  ookoo 

Lizard 

Moo 

Look 

Meere-7neere 

Looking-glass 

Anee-anee 

Loss 

Mjcmooka 

Lost 

Ocreiro 

Lo«se 

Ookoo 

178 

APPENDrX. 

M 

Male 

Tanee 

Man 

Tanata,  tanee 

Man  that  eats  with  women      Tanata  inoa 

Many 

Maoona 

Maried,  to  be 

Noho  te  Waheina 

Marshmallow 

Etooa  rere 

Mat 

AhoOf  moejia 

]\Ielon 

Ipoopeena 

Mine,  my  own 

Maooa,  mao 

Month 

Malama 

Moon 

MaJieina 

Moon,  new 

Alaheina  erimai 

Moon,  full 

Makeina  nooee 

Morrow,  to 

Apopo 

Morning 

Aheea  pa 

Mother 

Makooa  waheine 

Mountain 

Parei,  parei  nooee 

Mouth 

Waha 

Music 

Heeva 

Musket 

Poo 

Mustard 

Totai  Kumaree 

N 

Nail 

How 

Naked 

Tatarra 

Name 

Einoa 

Native  of  the  islands 

Kanaka  mowree 

Nasty 

Ereporepo 

Navel 

Petto 

Net 

Oopaka 

APPENDIX. 

Night,  this 

Aheeapo,  arere 

No,  not 

Aoaree 

Noon 

Akeia 

Nose 

Eehoo 

Nut,  used  to 

give 

light 

Tootooee 

17» 


o 


Oar,  or  paddle 

Hoe 

Ocean 

Tai 

Of 

Te 

Old 

Einotoo,  haheeoo 

Otaheitan 

Kanaka  boolla-boolla 

Oven,  or  pit  for  cooking 

Eomoo 

p 

Painting,  printing,  drawing, 

or  writing 

Fwra-purra 

Palm  of  tlie  hand 

Apooreema 

Parent 

Makooa 

Pearl 

Mummee 

Pearl-river 

Wai  mummee 

People 

Kanaka^  tanata 

Perhaps  (affirmatively) 

Ai  pa 

Ooree  pa 

Pig 

Poa 

Pigeon 

Eroope 

Pinch, to 

Ooma 

Place  of  worship 

Moimi 

Plank 

Papa 

Plantain 

Maio 

Plantation 

Aina 

180 

APPENDIX. 

Play,  to 

Ehanne 

Pleasant 

Nawce-naioee 

Plenty 

Aro(xiroOy  Maoona 

Pluck,  to 

H  jDtee-hootee 

Potatoes,  sweet 

0  icarra 

Prayer 

Poore,  anana 

Priest 

Kaho'na 

Present,  or  gift 

Alakunna 

Presently 

Areea,  mamoore 

Pressing  with  the  hand 

.  when 

tired 

Rorome 

Prohibition 

Taboo 

Puncturation 

Tattoo 

Putrid 

Peea-peea 

Q 

Quickly 

Weete-iceete 

R 

Rain 

Eooa 

Rat 

Eoree 

Red 

Oora-oora 

Remember,  to 

No-no 

Ringworm,  a  disease 

Enooa 

Ripe 

1  urra 

Ropes 

Toura 

Rotten 

Purra  roa 

Row,  t« 

Ehoe 

Rum 

Liunma 

Rushes 

Anmolio 

Russian 

Tonaia  Lokeene 

APPENDIX.                          in 

&■ 

Sailox 

Kanaka  hanna-hannd  te  mOi- 
too 

Salt 

Pakai 

Sahite,  by 

joining  noses 

Hone-hone 

Satisfied 

Maoona 

Saw,  a 

Palie  oroo 

Scissors 

Oopa 

Sea 

Tai,  wai  tat 

Sea-snake 

PooJie 

Sea-egg 

Neeootai 

See,  to 

Meene-meene 

Shark 

Manno 

Sheep 

Peepe 

Show  me 

Meere-meere 

Ship       ' 

Motoo 

Shine 

Peenoo-peenoo 

Shoot,  to 

Mackeroa 

Shore 

Ayookee 

Shortly 

Mamooree 

Shut 

Oopa 

Sickness,  or  sor6 

Mai,  Pooninc 

Sit,  to,  or  : 

squat 

Noho 

Sky 

Heiranei 

Sleep 

Moe-moe 

Small 

Ete 

Soldier 

Kanaka  etooa 

Seng 

Heeva 

Spade,  wooden 

Maiai 

Speak,  to 

Nummee'-tiummee 

Speech,  or 

'  harangue 

16 

Oraro 

182 

APPENDIX. 

Spear 

Pahoo,  pake 

Spit,  to 

Too  harre 

Spread,  to 

Hohora 

Star 

Ehetoo 

Stay,  wait  a  little 

Areea 

Steal,  to 

El  hooee 

Stink 

Peero-peero 

Stockings 

Tokeine 

Stone 

Pohakoo  keeva 

Stool,  to  lay  the  head  on 

when  asleep 

Papa  rooa 

Storm 

Teeooe-teoo 

Stranger 

Tanata  howree 

Stop 

Marrea 

Sugar-cane 

To,  ho 

Sun 

Laoo 

Surf  of  the  sea 

Horoo  tai 

Surgeon 

Nai 

Sweet 

Lea-lea,  onno 

Swim 

Eaoo 

Tallow 

Oila 

Take,  to 

Laiva,  ooleva 

Take  off,  to 

He  mo 

Take  care     • 

Malamma 

Tall 

Hoa 

Taro  pudding 

Poe 

Teeth 

NeeJioo 

Tell 

Eetee,  nummee-mimmee 

That 

Mao 

* 

APPENDIX, 

The 

Te,  he,  he 

Thief 

Tanata  ihooee 

Think,  to 

No-no 

This 

Aeia,  Aheea 

Tongue 

Alaloo 

Twins 

Teetee 

Twisting,  in  dancing, 

1  Amee-amee 

V 

Very 

Nooee-noQee 

u 

Uncle 

Titooa  tannee 

Understand 

Eetee 

Understanding 

Nono 

Undress,  to 

Hemo  tapa 

183 


w 


Warm 

Mahanna 

Water 

Wai 

Water  (fresh) 

Wai  onnoo 

Water  (salt) 

Wai  tai 

Water,  to  make 

Meeme 

Weak 

Faeera 

We 

Taooa 

Wet 

Purra 

What 

Ehara 

What  is  your  name 

Owhyt  oe  einoa 

Where 

Awaya 

134 


APPENDIX. 


Where  have  you  been 

White 

White  people 

Why 

Wind 

Wish 

Within 

With  me 

Woman 

Woman  (married) 

Wont,  I 

Wood 

Work,  to 

Wounded 

Wrong,  you  are 


Yahea  oee 
Keeo-keeoo 
Tanata  hoicret 
Tehala 
Matanee 
Mukee-muket 
Maro  koo 
Ta  wa 
Waheine 
Waheine  moiB 
Aoohee 
Tooheihe 
Hanna-hanna 
Tooitahe 
Waha  hai 


Yam 

Oohee 

Yawn 

PoowJia 

Year 

Makaheite 

Yellow 

0  peeta-peeta 

Yes 

Ai 

You 

Oe 

Your 

Kow 

NUMERALS. 

One 

Atahee 

Two 

Arooa 

Three 

Akoroo 

Four 

Ahaa 

APPENDIX. 

Five 

Areema 

Six 

Alionoo 

Seven 

.  AJwitoo 

Eight 

Awarroo 

Nine 

Ivee 

Ten 

Oome 

Eleven 

Oome  toome  atdhee 

Twelve 

Oome  toome  arooa 

Thirteen 

Ome  toome  akoroo 

Fourteen 

Oome  toome  ahaa 

Fifteen 

Oome  tonme  areema 

Sixteen 

Oome  toome  ahonoo 

Seventeen 

Oome  toome  dheitoo 

Eighteen 

Oome  toome  awarroo 

Nineteen 

Oome  toome  ivee 

Twenty 

Kanna  roa 

Thirty 

Kanna  koroo 

Forty 

Atahee  kannaha 

Eighty 

Arooa  kannaha 

&c.  &c. 

1600  or  40  ^  40 

Ataha  manna 

3200 

Arooa  manno,  Sfc, 

183 


DIALOGUES. 


^Vhere  are  you  going  Away  a  heire  oe 

I  am  going  on  board  the  ship  Heire  waoo  aroona  te  metOO 
I  am  going  ashore  Heir-e  waoo  ayooka 

I  wish  you  to  go  Mukee-mukee  heire  waoo 

Very  well,  can  you  go'  with 
me  Meitei,  heire  oe  tawa 

16* 


186  APPENDIX. 

No,  the  captain  will  not  let  Oareepa,  eree  te  motoo  oaree 
me  go  mukee-mukee  icaoo  heire 

There  will  be  no  work  on  Apopo  tahoo^  oaree  hanna' 
board  to-morrow  haiina  aroona  te  motoo 

Very   well,   will  you  go  to- 
morrow Meitei,  heire  oe  apopo 

I  cannot  tell  Oaree  pa  eetee  icaoo 

Where  is  the  king  Awaya  te  eree  nooee 

He  is  gone  on  board  the  ship  Heire  roa  aroona  te  motoo 

Has  he  taken  any  hogs  on 

board  Oolava  poa  aroona  te  motoo 

No ;  but  he  will  take  plenty  Oaree,  mamooree  peemai 
when  he  goes  ashore  ayooka  lavee    nooee-nooee 

te  poa 

The  captain  wishes  to  pur-  £ree  te  motoo  mukee-mukee 
chase  a  great  many  hogs  tooai  nooee  te  poa 

The  ship  sails  to-morrow         Apopo  heire  te  motoo 

Where  is  she  bound  to  Heire  aicaya 

She  is  bound  for  England        Heire  Kaheite,  or  Heire  Pri- 

tane 

Will  you  go  ashore,  and  Heire  oe  ayooka  moe-moe  to 
sleep  at  my  house  hare  waoo 

I  will  see  in  a  little  Mamooree  meene-meene  waoo 

Come  hither.  Go  on  shore,  Peemai  oe,  heire  ayooka  num- 
and  tell  the  king  that  the  me-numme  te  eree  nooee, 
captain  wishes  to  purchase  eree  te  motoo  mukee  tooai 
a  great  many  pearls  maoona  te  mummee 

1  will  go  soon  Mamooree  heire  wa^o 

]\lind  that  you  remember         Malamma  kmo  no-no 

Do  you  know  where  the  VXngEetee  oe  aicaya  te  eree 
is  nooee 

He  is  gone  to  the  JVIorai  Ooheire  marokoo  te  Morai 


APPENDIX. 


187 


William  Stevenson, 

literally  Lean  William 
John  Young 
Isaac  Davis 
John  Hairbottle 

literally  Lame  John 
William  Wordsworth, 

literally  Hardbottom 
James  Stow, 

literally  James  Large  BrowKeeme  Laoo  Nooee 
James  Beatty, 

literally  the  Block  maker    Keeme  Hanna  PockaJca 
The  Author's  name, 

literally  Loss  of  the  Feet    Moomooka  te  Wawyee 


Willama  Amapoo 

Alhanna 

Itseeke 

Keone  o^pa 

Willama  Okoree  how 


APPENDIX  No.  II. 


OF  THE 

CASE  OF  ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL, 

BY  DR.  NORDGOORST, 

IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  AMERICAN  COMPANY. 

[Translated  froni  the  Russian.] 


STATEMENT 

OF  THE 

CASE  OF  ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL. 


The  bearer  hereof,  named  Archibald  Macbrait,  has  had 
the  misfortune  to  have  both  of  his  feet  frostbitten  in  so 
dreadful  a  manner,  that  nothing  remained  but  to  endeavour 
to  save  his  life,  as  there  were  no  hopes  whatever  of  preserv- 
ing his  feet,  although  every  attempt  was  made  to  that  efiect. 

For  the  information  of  the  humane  and  benevolent,  I 
subjoin  a  short  statement  of  my  proceedings  in  his  case, 
fearless  of  any  compunctions  of  conscience  ;  being  sensible 
of  the  hard  fate  of  this  poor  fellow  creature,  and  how  much 
he  stands  in  need  of  assistance  to  support  his  existence. 

This  Enghshman  sailed  from  Kodiak  in  the  winter  time, 
in  the  ship's  cutter,  for  the  island  of  Sannack.  On  their 
passage  a  storm  came  on,  in  which  the  boat  was  wrecked. 
The  crew  saved  their  lives  on  shore ;  but  this  man  had  both 
his  feet  frozen,  and  not  having  stripped  off  his  clothes  for 
twenty-seven  days,  he  was  not  aware  of  the  extent  of  his 
calamity,  and  did  not  apprehend  the  destruction  of  his  feet. 

The  overseer  of  the  district  of  Karlutzki  brought  him  to 
Kodiak,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  to  the  hospital  call- 
ed the  Thief  District  College  of  Counsellor  and  Chevalier 
Baranoff. 


1§2  APPENDIX. 

Xn  the  first  place,  I  had  his  feet  cleaned  and  dried  ;  they 
were  buth  in  a  state  of  mortification  (gangrena  sicca.) 
The  mortified  p^irts  having  separated  from  the  sound  to 
the  distance  of  a  finger's  breadth,  where  either  amputation 
might  take  place  or  a  cure  be  performed,  as  the  patient 
himself  hoped.  1  dressed  the  mortified,  or  frostbitten  parts 
with  oil  of  turpentine,  and  the  unaflected  parts  with  olive 
oil,  and  continued  these  applications  for  about  five  days, 
after  which  I  used  charcoal,  gas,  and  other  chimical  appli- 
cations ;  but  as  there  appeared  no  chance  of  saving  his 
feet,  1  began  to  consider  that  there  was  no  resourse  left  but 
amputation.  That  the  patient  might  not  be  alarmed,  I 
talked  over  the  matter  with  him  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
and  endeavoured  to  persuade  him  to  submit  to  the  opera- 
tion, as  the  only  means  of  effecting  a  cure.  But  at  first  I 
was  not  successful,  and  could  not  get  him  to  agree  to  it. 
I  was  therefore  obliged  to  continue  my  former  mode  of 
treatment.  At  the  end  of  three  days,  however,  he  gave  his 
consent,  and  I  fixed  a  time  for  the  operations,  which  I 
performed  satis-uctorily.  On  the  third  day  after  the  opera- 
tion, the  wound  appeared  to  be  in  a  good  state,  and  I  con- 
tinued to  dress  it  daily  as  it  required. 

The  other  foot  remained  to  undergo  a  similar  operation. 
I  suflered  three  weeks  to  elapse,  when  it  also  took  place. 
The  wounds  are  now  in  a  good  state,  and  evidently  healing 
up. 

It  is  not  in  my  power  to  complete  the  cure,  being  obliged 
to  return  to  Russia ;  but  I  have  left  the  directions  with  the 
assistant  surgeon  how  to  proceed  in  the  treatment. 

The  illness  of  Archibald  Macbrait,  this  Englishman, 
commenced  on  the  22d  of  January,  1808.     The  first  opera 


APPENDIX.  19^ 

:tk>n  took  place  on  the  15th  of  March,  and  the  second  on 
the  15th  of  April.  He  is  twenty  years  of  age,  and  well 
made.  He  was  cured  by  Dr.  Nordgoorst,  actually  in  the 
service  of  the  Russian  American  Company. 

This  statement  should  support  the  petition  of  this  Eng- 
lishman, who  may  seek  an  asylum  in  Greenwich  hospital, 
where  the  unfortunate  of  this  kind  obtain  relief  and  comfort. 

N.  B.  This  is  an  accurate  description  of  the  case  and 
treatment ;  but  the  true  christian  name  and  surname  of  the 
patient,  is  Archibald  Campbell.* 


^  The  postscript  was  added  in  Latin,  at  the  request  of  the  author, 
when  the,  surgeon  read  the  case  to  him,  Archibald  Macbride  being 
the  name  he  assumed  when  he  entered  the  American  ship.     Vide 

p.  n. 


17 


APPENDIX  No.  III. 


NOTICE  OF 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE  WORLD. 


NOTICE  OF 
ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL. 

[From  Blackwood's  Magazine.] 


Our  readers  cannot  have  forgotten  the  name  of  Archibald 
Campbell,  the  poor  Scottish  seaman,  whose  account  of 
his  voyage  round  the  world  was,  three  or  four  years  ago, 
noticed  at  considerable  length  in  the  Quarterly  Review. 
This  unhappy  adventurer's  narrative  was,  in  every  way, 
well  deserving  of  the  interest  which  it  created  at  the  time 
of  its  publication.  It  was  modest  and  unassuming  in  its 
manner,  and,  in  its  matter,  free  to  a  great  extent,  from  the 
many  species  of  blunders  and  inaccuracies  which  are  com- 
monly so  abundant  in  the  productions  of  persons  in  the 
humble  situation  of  life  of  Archibald  Campbell.  At  that 
time,  however,  its  merits  could  not  be  quite  so  fully  ap- 
preciated as  now.  Although  the  apparent  candour  of  the 
mariner  was  well  qualified  to  lend  credit  to  all  his  state- 
ments, yet  even  his  benevolent  editor  abstained  from  ex- 
pressing himself  in  any  very  decided  manner  respecting 
their  authority,  and  the  same  diffidence  was,  of  course, 
shared  by  his  reviewer.  But  in  the  years  which  have  now 
intervened,  the  narratives  of  succeeding  voyages  have  given 
perfect  confirmation  to  all  the  assertions  of  Campbell  ;  and 
his  story  may,  therefore,  be  considered  as  forming  an  au- 

17^ 


198  APPENDIX. 

thentic  link  in  the  history  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  with 
regard  to  which,  for  several  years  previous  to  his  arrival 
there,  we  had  received  no  certain  or  direct  intelligence. 

We  refer  to  Cam{)bell's  book  itself,  and  the  review  of  it 
ahead}  mentioned,  for  any  information  which  our  readers 
may  require  in  order  to  restore  them  to  a  perfect  acquaint- 
ance with  the  early  and  important  incidents  in  his  various 
life.  At  the  time  when  his  book  was  published,  it  will  be 
recollected,  the  sores  upon  his  legs  were  still  in  a  very  dis- 
tressing condition,  owing  to  the  unskilful  manner  in  which 
they  had  been  amputated  below  the  ankle,  by  the  Russian 
Surgeon,  into  whose  hands  he  fell  immediately  after  they 
were  frostbitten.  The  period  of  tranquil  existence  which  he 
had  spent  in  the  Sandwich  islands,  the  voyage  homewards, 
and  a  residence  of  many  months  in  his  native  country,  had 
all  been  found  insufficient  to  remove  the  irritation  of  his 
wounds  ;  and  he  was  still  not  only  a  cripple,  but  an  acute 
sufferer,  when  he  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Smith,  in 
the  Clyde  steam -boat.  The  kindness  of  that  excellent 
person  soon  enabled  him  to  lay  the  story  of  his  afflictions 
before  the  public,  and  the  success  of  the  book  was  such, 
as  to  furnish  a  sum  far  beyond  the  expectations  of  Archi- 
bald Campbell.  Had  he  remained  in  this  country  during 
the  time  when  the  public  impression  was  strongly  in  his 
favour,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  something  might 
probably  have  been  done  to  provide  the  means  of  comfort- 
able retirement  to  one  whose  errors,  in  themselves  venial, 
had  been  so  severely  punished  in  the  person  of  the  offender, 
and  had  furnished  a  lesson  so  capable  of  doing  good  to 
others.  Neither  Campbell  nor  his  friends,  however,  en- 
tertained, at  the  moment,  any  expectations  of  such  a  na- 
ture, and  the   poor  man,  whose  patience  was  quite  ex- 


APPENDCX.  199 

hausted,  resolved,  as  soon  as  he  got  a  little  money  into  bis 
hands,  to  seek  in  it  the  means  of  being  once  more  transport- 
ed to  the  friendly  territories  of  king  Tamaahmaah,  and  his 
own  comfortable  farm  on  the  banks  of  the  Wymumme.  In 
the  midst  of  all  his  distresses,  he  found  leisure  for  court- 
ship, so  he  set  sail  with  his  wife,  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  for 
INew- York,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  passage  to  Owhyhee,  on 
board  of  some  of  the  American  ships,  which  have^  of  late 
years,  been  almost  the  only  visitors  of  these  islands.  On 
the  23d  of  December  following,  he  writes  as  follows,  to  a 
medical  gentleman  in  Glasgow,  who  had  shown  him  much 
kindness  while  in  that  city  : — "  I  am  very  sorry  to  inform 
you  that  we  shall  have  no  opportunit}-  of  going  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  this  season,  the  vessels  having  all  left  Boston 
for  the  northwest  coast  before  our  arrival,  and  it  is  very- 
likely  that  there  will  be  no  more  ships  going  that  way  until 
they  return  again,  which  will  not  be  these  two  years ;  there- 
fore I  am  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  There  is  nothing  at  all  do- 
ing here  in  ray  line,  and  times  are  much  worse  here  than  at 
home,  and  a  great  many  of  the  passengers  that  came  out 
with  us  have  gone  home  again,  not  being  able  to  find  work 
of  any  kind."  He  then  states  his  intention  to  procure,  if 
possible,  a  passage  to  the  Brazils,  where  he  had  before  been. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  it  was  announced  that  some  per- 
son was  about  to  publish  an  American  edition  of  his  book, 
which  unhandsome  procedure  Archibald  forthwith  took  the 
most  effectual  method  of  preventing,  by  publishing  an  Ame- 
rican edition  of  it  himself.  Of  this  edition  he  sold  700  co- 
pies in  a  month,  and  cleared  about  300  dollars  on  the  •  spe* 
culation. 

His  legs  continued  all  this  time   to  be  as  troublesome  as 
ever ;  and  Campbell  determined  to  give  himself  a  chance 


200  APPENDIX. 

of  being  a  sound  cripple,  by  having  them  amputated  over 
again  above  the  ankle.  This  resolution  he  carried  into 
effect  last  winter  with  the  most  perfect  fortitude.  His  right 
leg  was  amputated  on  the  20th  of  November,  1817?  and 
the  bursting  of  an  arterj  a  few  hours  after  the  operation, 
threw  him  into  a  brain  fever,  from  which  he  escaped  with 
difficulty.  "  My  whole  leg,"  says  he,  ''  began  from  the 
end  of  the  stump  to  be  inflamed  with  erysipalas,  combined 
with  phlegmatic  inflammation,which,  luckily  for  me,  turned 
into  a  suppuration.  I  am  happy  to  inform  yon,  that  eves 
since,  I  have  been  mending  so  fast,  that  I  was  able  to  go 
home  all  last  week,  and  it  is  only  yesterday,  (January  13, 
1818)  that  I  returned  to  have  the  other  leg  cut :  and  the 
surgeon  says  1  shall  have  a  better  chance  of  recovery,  as 
my  habit  is  not  so  full."  The  second  operation  was  accord- 
ingly performed  in  a  few  days  after  this,  and  his  recovery 
was  even  more  easy  than  he  had  been  led  to  expect.  "  As 
goon  as  1  got  out  of  the  hospital,"  says  he,  "  I  made  m3'self 
a  pair  of  artificial  legs,  with  which  I  already  begin  to  walk 
prett}'  tolerably,  and  am  going  to  Albany,  Baltimore,  Sec.  to 
get  subscriptions  for  the  second  edition  of  my  book." 

But  during  his  stay  in  New-York,  Campbell  has  not 
been  an  author,  publisher,  and  patient  only.  He  has  also 
been  carrying  on  various  little  species  of  traffic,  in  globe 
glass  mirrors,  plaster  of  Paris  casts,  Scots  Almanacks,  &c. 
Szc.  with  various,  but,  on  the  whole,  not  very  flattering 
success.  As  soon  as  he  shall  have  sufficiently  supplied  the 
transatlantic  reading  public  with  his  voyage  round  the 
world,  Archy,  who  is  a  Jack  of  many  trades,  purposes  to 
turn  another  of  his  talents  to  a  little  advantage,  and  to 
make  a  voyage  to  the  Clyde  "  to  see  his  friends,"  in  the 
capacity  of  a  cook  to  a  merchantman.     He  still,  however. 


APPENDIX.  201 

bas  a  hankering  after  his  "  steading"  in  Owhyhee  ;  and  it 
is  probable  that  ere  long  we  shall  have  it  in  our  power  td 
inform  our  readers  that  he  has  come  to  "  his  ain  again." 

We  might  quote  some  farther  passages  from  his  letters  tO 
his  friend  in  Glasgow  ;  but  although  they  are  all  highly  in- 
teresting to  those  who  have  seen  any  thing  of  the  man,  we 
are  apprehensive  of  trespassing  too  far  on  the  patience  of 
the  general  reader.  The  lett  ?rs  are  written  in  a  clear,  dis" 
tinct  style,  and  in  a  very  good  penmanship  ;  and  his  account 
of  the  state  of  things  in  America,  so  far  as  it  goes,  shows 
that  Archibald  has  been  in  his  youth  no  inattentive  or  un- 
worthy member  of  some  of  the  "  literary  and  commercial" 
clubs,  so  common  in  the  west  of  Scotland.  The  letters  are 
^11  concluded  in  a  very  polite  manner,  as  thus  : — "  Be  plea- 
sed, Sir,  to  give  our  best  respects  to  your  father  and  sisters, 
and  our  compliments  to  your  servant  maids  ;  meantime,  we 
yenoain,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servants^ 
Archb.  &  Isabella  Campbell." 

We  trust  our  readers  will  pardon  us  for  detaining  them 
so  long  with  the  history  of  this  poor  countryman  of  ours.— 
Those  of  them  who  have  read  his  book  will,  we  are  quite 
sure,  be  happy  in  this  renewal  of  their  acquaintance  with 
him  ;  for  our  own  parts,  we  hope  he  will,  on  his  arrival, 
forthwith  publish  a  full  account  of  his  adventures  during 
this  last  voyage.  He  must  now  be  pretty  well  initiated  into 
the  ways  of  the  booksellers,  and  we  do  not  see  why  Mr. 
Campbell  should  not  succeed  as  well  in  his  transactions 
with  that  slippery  generation,  as  many  other  authors  of 
greater  pretension 


APPENDIX,  No.  IV. 


HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT 


OP   THE 


€Asr®wi©ai  i^a^WD! 


<^^ 


HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT 


OP  THE 


SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 


When  captain  Cook  discovered  the  Sandwich  islands, 
in  1778?  Tereoboo  was  king  of  Owhyhee  ;  Titeree,  of 
Moratai ;  and  Pereoranne,  of  Wahoo,  and  the  islands  to 
leeward.  The  sovereignty  of  Mowee  was  contested  by 
Tereoboo  and  Titeree  ;  the  former  claimed  it  for  his  son, 
who  had  married  the  daughter  of  the  deceased  king ;  the 
latter  claimed  it  as  heir  male  to  the  former  sovereign.  In 
consequence  of  this  dispute,  these  chiefs  were  engaged  in 
war  at  the  above  mentioned  period ;  but  captain  King 
understood,  before  he  quitted  the  islands,  that  an  arrange- 
ment had  taken  place,  by  which  Titeree  retained  Ranai 
Taharoora,  whilst  Mowee  was  ceded  to  Tev/arro,  the  sort 
of  Tereoboo.  Tamaahmaah,  the  present  king,  is  known 
in  Cook's  Voyage  by  the  name  of  JVlaiha-Maihaj  and  was 
present  at  the  death  of  that  illustrious  navigator.  He  was 
the  eldest  son  of  Kaihooa,  only  brother  to  Tereoboo,  and 
after  his  son,  Tewarro,  next  heir  to  the  succession. 

After  the  departure  of  the   Resolution  and  Discovery, 
no  ships  touched  at  the  Sandwich  islands  till  the  year  1787« 
During  the  interval  that  had  elapsed,  considerable  revolu- 
tions had  taken  place.     Tereoboo  was  dead,  and  his  do- 
18 


20G  APPENDIX. 

minions  shared  between  his  sons,  Tewarro  and  Taraaah- 
maah  ;  and  Titeree  had  conquered  the  islands  of  Mowee 
and  Wahoo. 

The  accounts  of  these  transactions,  owing  to  the  few  op- 
portunities of  inquiry  which  the  navigators  who  touched  at 
these  islands  enjoyed,  and  their  ignorance  of  the  language, 
are  extremely  contradictory. 

By  one  account,  Tereoboo  is  said  to  have  been  pot  to 
death  by  Tamaahraaah  ;  by  another,  that  he  fell  in  battle  ; 
and  by  a  third,  that  he  died  a  natural  death.  The  causes 
of  tiie  division  of  his  territory  between  his  son  and  nephew 
are  involved  in  equal  obscurity. 

The  ship  Iphigenia,  commanded  by  captain  Douglas, 
arrived  at  Owlnhee  in  IJSS,  being  the  first  which  touched 
at  that  island  after  the  death  of  captain  Cook.  There  was 
on  board  of  her  a  chief  of  Atooi,  named  Tianna,  who  had 
the  preceding  year  accompanied  captain  ]Meares  to  Canton, 
and  had  been  enriched  b}'  the  kindness  of  his  English 
friends,  with  a  valuable  assortment  of  European  articles^ 
arms,  and  ammunition. 

Tianna  was  a  man  of  great  activity  and  ambition,  and  a 
distinguished  warrior.  These  quaUties,  and  his  wealth, 
particularly  in  fire-arms,  rendered  him  an  acquisition  of 
much  consequence  to  an  enterprising, chief  like  Tamaah- 
maah  ;  and  he  induced  him  to  settle  upon  Owhyhee,  by 
conferring  upon  him  high  rank  and  extensive  tracts  of  land. 

Captain  Douglas  had  with  him  a  small  tender,  built  upon 
the  northwest  coast  of  America.  "\Mien  Tamaahmaah 
learned  this,  the  idea  of  having  a  similar  one  built,  imme- 
diately occurred  to  him  ;  and  he  pressed  that  gentleman 
with  so  much  urgency  to  allow  him  the  assistance  of  his 


APPENDIX.  207 

carpenter,  that  he  was  obliged  to  give  a  conditional  promise. 
Although  the  promise  was  never  fulfilled,  Tamaahmaah 
did  not  abandon  the  project ;  and  soon  afterwards  he  pre- 
vailed upon  an  Englishman  of  the  name  of  Boyd,  who  had 
been  bred  a  ship-carpenter,  to  undertake  the  construction 
of  a  vessel. 

About  the  same  time,  two  other  Englishmen,  named 
Young  and  Davis,  of  whom  some  account  is  given  in  the 
work,  became  resident  upon  Owhyhee,  and  with  their 
assistance  he  determined  to  build  a  vessel.  Fortunately 
for  the  attainment  of  this  object,  captain  Vancouver  ar- 
rived, and  with  the  aid  of  his  carpenters,  he  was  enabled 
to  accomplish  his  favourite  object,  by  the  completion  of  his 
first  decked  vessel,  the  Britannia. 

It  ought  to  be  mentioned,  to  his  honour,  that  whilst  thus 
anxious  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  navy,  he  had  in  his  pos- 
session a  small  schooner,  which  had  been  seized  by  a  chief 
4:alled  Tamahmotoo,  and  which  he  had  carefully  preserved, 
in  the  hopes  of  restoring  it  to  her  owners. 

In  1791  he  attacked  Titeree,  and  captured  the  islands  of 
Mowee,  Morotai,  and  Ranai.  Whilst  engaged  in  this  ex- 
pedition, h€  received  information  that  his  own  dominions 
were  attacked  by  Tewarro,*  and  he  was,  in  consequence, 
obliged  to  abandon  his  conquest  and  return. 

By  the  energy  of  his  operations  he  soon  vanquished  his 
opponent,  who  was  slain  by  Tianna,  and  the  whole  island 
of  Owhyhee  was  reduced  under  his  dominion.  In  the 
mean  time,  Titeree,  availing  himself  of  his  absence,  recov- 
ered the  islands  he  had  lost. 

*  It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the  name,  or  even  the  identity  of  this 
.chief,  called  by  captain  King  Tewarro ;  by  Yancouvery  Teama-' 
wheere  ;  and  bv  Lisianski,  Kiara. 


g08  APPENBIX. 

Affairs  were  in  this  situation  when  Vancouver  arrived, 
in  March,  1792.  He  found  the  islands  in  a  most  wretched 
state,  from  the  long  wars  that  had  taken  place;  and  he 
endeavoured,  but  without  effect,  to  establish  a  peace  between 
Titeree  and  Tamaahmaah. 

Tamaahmaah  was  so  sensible  of  the  advantages  which 
would  result  from  a  closer  connexion  with  a  civilized  powers 
that  he  made  a  formal  surrender  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
island  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  with  the  reservation, 
that  there  should  be  no  interference  in  their  religion,  inter- 
nsil  government,  or  domestic  economy. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  captain  Vancouver,  Titeree 
died,  leaving  the  island  of  Wahoo  to  his  son  Tritoboorie, 
and  Mowee  to  his  son  Korkoranee. 

A  dispute  arose  between  Tritoboorie  and  his  uncle  Ta- 
haio,  king  of  Atooi,  who  laid  claim  to  Wahoo  ;  but  Trito- 
boorie, supported  by  Mr.  Brown,  and  the  crew  of  the  ship 
Butterworth,  not  only  repelled  Tahaio,  but  even  invaded 
Atooi. 

Tamaahmaah,  availing  himself  of  these  dissensions,  in- 
vaded and  conquered  Mowee,  Morotai,  and  Ranai.  Next 
year,  1795,  he  invaded  Wahoo  with  one  detatchment  of 
his  force,  leaving  Tianna  to  follow  him  with  the  other. 
Whilst  wailing  the  arrival  of  that  chief,  he  received  the 
unexpected  intelligence  that  he  had  gone  over  to  the  ene- 
my ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  an  insurrection  had  broke  out 
in '  Owliyhee,  headed  by  Nomataha,  brother  to  Tianna. 
Instead  of  being  overwhelmed  by  this  unexpected  intelli- 
gence, he  took  the  resolution  of  instantly  attacking  his 
enemies.  The  war  was  decided  by  a  sanguinary  battle, 
fought  near  the  village  of  Whyteete,  in  which  Tamaahmaah 
tvas  completely  victorious. 


APPENDIX.  209 

Young  and  Davis  accompanied  him  upon  this  expedition, 
and  were  of  essential  service  to  him  from  their  knowledge 
of  fire-arms. 

Tianna  lost  his  life  in  the  battle,  while  the  sons  of  Tite- 
ree  found  refuge  in  Atooi.  Tamaahmaah  immediately 
returned  to  Owhyhee,  and  soon  quelled  the  insurrection  in 
that  island. 

He  remained  there  about  a  twelvemonth  ;  but  either  with 
a  view  of  consolidating  the  conquests  he  had  already  made, 
or  of  extending  them  farther,  he  proceeded  to  Laheina,  in 
Mowee,  where  he  resided  a  few  years,  and  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Wahoo,  where  he  was  during  the  whole  time  of 
our  author's  stay,  in  1809  and  1810. 

Of  the  history  of  Atooi  and  Onehow,  the  only  islands  in 
the  groupe  independent  of  Tamaahmaah,  little  is  known 
with  certainty.  Captain  King  says,  that  in  1779,  they 
were  governed  by  the  grandsons  of  Perioranne,  king  of 
AVahoo.  It  is  probable,  that  upon  the  conquest  of  that 
island  by  Titeree,  they  were  also  conquered  ;  for  it  appears 
that  Tahaio,  or  Taio,  brother  of  that  chief,  was  king  of 
these  islands  when  captain  Vancouver  visited  them  in 
17^8.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Tamoree,  or  Coma- 
ree,  who  was  king  of  these  islands  in  1810. 


18^ 


APPENDIX,  No.  V. 


NOTES. 


NOTE  A, 

The  author  kept  a  journal  in  the  early  part  of  the  voy- 
age ;  but  it  was  lost  in  the  events  which  succeeded,  and  he 
was  afterwards  placed  in  circumstances  where  it  wjs  not 
in  his  power  to  keep  one.  He  has  in  his  possession,  how- 
ever, several  documents  which  serve  to  ascertain  many  of 
the  dates.     These  are, 

1st.  His  letters  to  his  mother,  written  whenever  an  op*- 
portunity  presented  itself,  and  which  she  preserved. 

2d.  A  certificate  from  the  East-India  Company  of  the 
time  when  he  quitted  their  service. 

3d.  The  statement  of  his  case  by  the  Russian  surgeon,  a 
translation  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  No.  H. 

The  other  dates  are  given  from  memory,  and  are  either 
such  as  a  sailor  would  naturally  remember,  or  circumstances 
of  so  remarkable  a  nature  that  they  could  not  fail  of  fixing 
themselves  in  a  memory  much  less  retentive  than  that  of 
our  author. 

Whenever  the  editor  has  had  it  in  his  power  to  verify 
them  by  collateral  authorities,  he  has  not  failed  to  do  so  ; 
and  the  result  of  the  inquiry  has  been,  even  where  correc- 
tions were  necessary,  to  show  the  general  accuracy  of  the 
narrative ;  For  example,  his  written  account  of  the  first 
part  of  the  voyage  is  literally,  "  The  convoy  sailed  from 


214  APPENDIX. 

the  Motherbank  on  12th  INIay,  1806,  and  cleared  the  Chan- 
nel  on  the  18th;  was  twelve  weeks  on  our  passage  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  lay  at  the  Cape  fourteen  or  fifteen 
days;  sailed  from  the  Cape  about  the  19th  August,  and 
on  the  19th  September  made  the  island  of  St.  Paul's  ; 
arrived  at  Pulo  Penang  about  the  middle  of  October,  and 
sailed  on  the  24th  November;  left  Admiral  Trowbridge's 
flag-ship,  the  Blenheim ;  arrived  at  China  the  eighteenth 
January,.  1807.'* 

He  added,  that  the  convoy  left  the  Cape  upon  a  Friday, 
and  en  the  three  foilowing  Saturdays  they  had  each  day  a 
gale  of  wind  ;  that  on  the  third  of  these  Saturdays  they 
passed  St.  PauPs. 

Some  difficulties  arose,  however;  for,  upon  consulting 
the  Almanack,  the  editor  found  that  the  19th  August,  1806, 
was  not  a  Friday,  but  a  Tuesday.  Upon  asking  the  rea- 
son of  his  fixing  on  these  particular  dates,  he  showed  a 
letter  to  his  mother,  dated  Portsmouth,  11th  May,  saying, 
the  fleet  was  to  sail  next  day  ;  from  whence  he  concluded 
the  convoy  sailed  on  the  12th  ;  and  counting  twelve  weeks, 
would  fix  their  arrival  at  the  Cape  on  Monday,  the  4th  of 
August;  and  fifteen  days  would  make  Tuesday,  the  19th, 
as  the  day  they  left. 

Upon  consulting  the  newspapers  of  the  time,  it  appears 
that  the  fleet  did  not  sail. till  the  14th  of  May,  and  arrived 
at  the  Cape  on  the  7th  of  August,  being  just  twelve  weeks 
and  one  day ;  and  fifteen  days  more  fixes  the  day  of  sail- 
ing on  Friday,  the  22d.  The  editor  has  not  discovered 
whether  the  other  dates  in  this  part  of  the  voyage  are  cor- 
rect to  a  day  ;  but  the  author  says,  that  the  loading  of  the 
sliips  was  stopped  about  six  weeks  after  their  arrival,  in 
consequence  of  the  dispute  with  the  Chinese.    Counting 


APPENDIX.  215 

six  weeks  after  the  18th  of  January,  would  fix  it  about 
the  1st  of  March.  By  the  accounts  fi'om  Canton,  in  Note 
B,  it  appears  that  this  actually  took  place  upon  the  4th ; 
which  renders  it  probable  tiiat  the  date  is  correct,  or  at 
least  pretty  nearly  so. 

In  adition  to  these  original  documents,  the  editor  has  in 
his  possession  a  number  of  accounts,  in  the  author's  hand, 
of  particular  parts  of  the  voyage,  and  the  printed  account 
of  his  adventures,  in  metre,  referred  to  in  the  preface. 

Immediately  after  his  return,  in  1812,  a  gentleman  in 
Paisley  undertook  to  get  an  account  of  his  adventures  pub- 
lished, provided  he  drew  it  up  himself.  He  accordingly 
made  some  preparations  ;  but  the  death  of  the  gentleman 
prevented  the  publication. 

The  Vocabulary  was  written  by  the  author  as  he  recol- 
lected the  words,  and  transmitted  to  the  editor,  who  arrang- 
ed them,  and  afterwards  read  them  over  to  hiai,  correcting 
the  spelling  from  his  pronunciation,  according  to  the  rules 
which  are  prefixed  to  it. 


NOTE  B,  p,  17. 

DISPUTE  WITH    THE    CHINESE  AT  CANTON, 
IN  1807. 

Extract  from  the  Morning  Chronicle,  tGth  August,  1807. 

"  Canton^  March  4. — The  English  Company  are  in- 
volved in  considerable  trouble,  in  consequence  of  some 
one  of  the  crew  of  their  ship  Neptune  having  killed  a 


216  APPENDIX. 

Chinese,  for  whose  life  this  government  have  required  one 
of  the  crew  to  be  delivered  up,  which  had  been  positively 
refused.  This  refusal  has  produced  the  stoppage  of  all  the 
diops  for  that  ship  ;  and  Mouqua,  (second  of  the  Hong,) 
by  whom  she  is  secured,  has  been  with  the  linguist  for  the 
ship,  carried  in  chains  inside  of  the  city.  I  have  conversed 
with  Cheongqua  and  Conseequa,  who  have  assured  me  no 
inconvenience  will  attend  the  Americans ;  but  they  assert 
positively  a  man  must  be  given  up. 

"  The  sailors  have  behaved  most  infamously  :  They 
hauled  down  and  danced  on  the  Spanish  flag,  and  then 
destroyed  it.  Their  captain  apologized,  and  next  day 
compelled  them  to  hoist  a  new  one.  Some  few  of  the 
scroundrels  showed  a  disposition  to  pull  down  the  American 
colours ;  and  a  part  of  them  were  in  the  act  of  lowering 
the  Swedish,  but  were  prevented.  They  have  burnt  one 
of  the  mandarin's  houses  in  front  of  the  factories.  This 
shameful  conduct  has  induced  the  Chinese  to  determine, 
that  no  more  sailors  shall  be  permitted  to  come  up  on 
liberty.  It  is  generally  thought  the  English  business, 
except  the  country,  will  all  be  stopped  in  a  day  or  two. 
The  English  including  the  Lion  man  of  war,  at  Bocca 
Tigris,  amount  to  16OO  men.  A  few  days  will  decide  the 
unfortunate  business." 

"  March  6. — We  are  every  hour  afraid  of  a  rupture 
between  the  English  and  Chinese,  in  consequence  of  the 
death  of  a  Chinese,  from  the  accidental  stroke  of  a  club  by 
an  t-nglish  sailor. 

"  The  Chinese  demanded  an  Englishman  to  die,  con- 
formable to  the  laws  of  their  country ;  and  the  English 
have  refused,  being  unable  to  find  out  the  person  who 
gave  the  blow.      In    consequence,  the    viceroy  of  this 


APPENDIX,  22,7 

province  gave  orders  yesterday  to  stop  their  trade  ;  and  iu 
all  probability  the  next  step  will  be  to  intercept  their  sup- 
plies, and  seize  on  some  person  of  the  factory  ;  a  circum- 
stance which  must  produce  the  most  serious  consequences. 

^'  I  understand  the  English  have  no  objection  to  give  up 
a  man,  provided  they  could  find  out  the  guilty  person  ;  and 
surely  they  cannot  be  blamed  for  spurning  the  idea  of 
making  an  innocent  man  suffer.  God  only  knov/s  how  it 
will  end.  They  are  allowed  three  days  more  to  decide ; 
and  if  they  do  not  comply,  it  is  thought  the  Chinese  will 
endeavour  to'  compel  them.  Should  they  be  foohsTi 
enough  to  attempt  the  latter  plan,  I  think  they  will  get  a 
sound  drubbing,  as  the  English  have  now  a  force  at 
Wampooa  and  Bocca  Tigris  of  2000  able-bodied  men,  all 
eager  for  attack." 

MORXi:^G  CHRONICLE,  DECEMBER  4. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  lately  resident  in  China,  dated 
Canton,  ^pril  IS. 

"  The  affair  between  the  English  Company  and  the  Chinese  is 
at  length  adjusted.  After  many  meetings,  chin  chinnings,  &ic.  &.€► 
the  Chinese  government  ordered  up  for  trial  the  fifty-two  sailors  be- 
longing to  the  Neptune,  that  were  on  liberty  when  the  fray  happen- 
ed. This  order  was  complied  with  on  the  part  of  the  Company ; 
and  about  the  2oth  of  March  the  sailors  arrived  in  Canton,  under 
the  protection  of  a  company  of  marines  from  the  Lion  ship  of  war. 
After  they  had  reached  Canton,  the  mandarins  intimated  that  they 
must  be  taken  into  the  city  for  examination.  This  was  resolutely 
opposed ;  and  it  was  finally  agreed,  that  the  trial  should  be  held  in 
the  Company's  old  factory,  the  lower  part  of  which  was  accordingly 
fitted  up  in  great  style,  with  yellow  and  crimson  silk  carpets,  cush- 
ions, tables,  chairs,  he.  &.c.  the  whole  intended  to  represent  the 
emperor's  court.  The  business  now  appeared  favourable,  but  was 
soon  shaded  by  another  serious  occurrence.     The  mandarin  who 

19 


ai8  APPENDIX. 

was  to  sit  m  awful  judgment,  required  that  the  chief  of  the  Compa- 
ny, the  captain  of  the  Lion,  and  the  commodore  of  the  Company's 
ships,  should  not  be  permitted  to  sit  in  his  presence  during  the  trial. 
This  was  not  acceded  to,  and  threats  were  uttered  on  the  part  of  the 
British.  The  mandarin  was  equally  obstinate,  and  the  business  as- 
sumed a  very  serious  aspect.  As  the  mandarin  could  not  come 
himself,  or  send  one  of  high  order,  he  sent  one  who  was  wiDing  that 
the  British  should  sit  at  their  ease  in  good  elbow  chairs.  Thus 
arranged,  about  the  6th  instant  the  trial  commenced  ;  and  of  fifty- 
two  sailors,  eleven  were  selected  as  the  most  guilty,  and  laid  over 
for  farther  proof.  On  the  9th,  the  eleven  were  again  brought 
up  for  trial,  and  two  were  selected  as  the  guilty  persons,  who 
were  again  laid  over  for  farther  investigation  On  the  11th, 
the  two  were  again  brought  forward,  and  one  of  them  adjudged 
gxiiky,  and  ordered  to  be  kept  in  possession  of  the  Company,  till 
the  pleasure  of  the  emperor  should  be  known.  The  British  ships 
are  now  loading,  and  will  sail  in  about  a  fortnight.  What  fate 
awaits  the  sailor  retained  is  uncertain ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the 
mandarins  would  rather  touch  a  few  of  the  security  merchants' 
dollars,  and  keep  the  affair  from  the  emperor,  than  retaliate  the 
outrage  against  tlieir  countrymen-  In  this  case,  not  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  will  be  necessary  to  patch  up  the  affair." 

In  the  appendix  to  Sir  George  Staunton's  account  of  the 
Penal  Code  of  China,  there  is  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Chinese  court  in  this  case.  The  editor 
has  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  the  work ;  but  the  fol- 
lowing abstract,  taken  from  the  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  III. 
p.  315,  will  show  how  the  cause  terminated. 

"  The  Brilish  factory  was  fitted  up  as  a  court  of  justice  ;  the  great 
officers  of  state,  and  the  judges  attended;  and  the  result  was,  the 
singling  out  of  eleven  men,  as  having  been  the  most  active  in  the 
affray.  On  a  re-esamination  of  these  men,  they  eadeavoured  to 
prevail  on  some  one  to  plead  guilty,  under  an  implied  promise  that 
he  should  not  be  punished.  This  failing,  it  was  suggested  that  the 
affair  might  be  got  over,  if  the  officers  of  the  Neptune  would  depose 


.\PPENDIX.  219 

that  they  had  seen  a  sailor  carrying^  a  bamboo  stick  over  his 
shoulder,  against  which,  ixi  the  hurry  and  confusion,  a  Chinese  had 
accidentally  run  his  head.  The  proposal  of  so  ridiculous  and  pitiful 
expedient  met  with  the  contempt  it  desei^ved.  The  next  sut^gestion 
was,  that  some  one  of  the  sailors  should  be  prevailed  on  to  state 
that  finding  an  attempt  made  on  his  pocket,  he  had  struck  behind 
him,  and  might  thus  have  woimded  the  deceased.  This  expedient 
meeting  with  no  better  success,  they  proceeded  in  their  examination, 
and  dismissed  all  except  two,  Julius  Csesar,  and  Edward  Sheen  It 
appeared  that  Julius  Csesar  had  a  small  cane  in  his  hand  on  the  day 
of  the  riot,  but  was  not  outside  of  the  factory  ;  and  that  Edward 
Sheen  was  outside  of  the  factory,  but  did  not  carry  a  stick  ;  he  con- 
fessed, however,  that  he  had  a  Chinese  tobacco  pipe  in  his  hand,  the 
tube  of  which  was  of  bamboo,  the  court,  therefore,  decided  that  he 
carried  a  stick,  and,  consequently,  that  he  was  the  culprit.  Havino- 
got  thus  f£L»-  over  the  ground,  a  long  negotiation  took  place  as  to  the 
disposal  of  Edward  Sheen,  until  the  final  decision  of  the  case  should 
be  received  from  Fekin  ;  and  it  was  at  length  agreed  that  he  should 
be  left  behind  in  charge  of  the  supercargoes. 

"  Having  thus  briefly  stated  the  leading  facts,  we  shall  now  see  in 
what  manner  the  case  was  represented  to  the  supreme  court  at  Pekin, 
and  its  decision  thereupon.  It  is  contained  at  full  length  in  No.  [I. 
of  the  appendix,  p.  521. 

"  The  viceroy  of  Canton  states,  for  the  information  of  the  supreme 
court,  that  Edward  Sheen,  an  Englishman,  being  in  the  upper  story 
of  a  warehouse  which  overlooked  the  street,  and  in  which  there  was 
a  window  opening  with  wooden  shutters,  did,  on  the  18th  day  of  the 
first  moon,  employ  a  wooden  stick,  in  an  oblique  direction,  to  keep 
open  the  shutter ;  and  that,  in  doing  this,  the  wooden  stick  slipped 
and  fell  downwards  ;  that  Leao-a-teng,  a  Chinese,  passing  at  the 
moment,  was  struck  and  wounded  by  the  falling  of  the  said  stick  upon 
his  left  temple,  and  that  on  the  evening  of  the  following  day  he  died 
in  consequence  of  the  wound.  That  repeated  orders  had  been  given 
to  the  chief  of  the  English  factory  to  deliver  up  the  man  to  justice  ; 
that,  in  reply,  it  was  alleged  the  said  criminal  was  sick  of  an  agoie 
and  fever,  and  under  medical  treatment ;  that  on  his  recovery,  he 
was  confronted  with  the  relations  of  the  deceased ;  that  after  re- 


220  APPENDIX. 

peated  examinations,  the  said  criminal,  Edward  Sheen,  had  ac? 
knowledged  the  truth  of  all  the  facts  here  stated,  without  reserva- 
tion ;  that  he  had,  consequently,  been  proved  guilty  of  accidental 
homicide,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be  sentenced  to  pay  the  usual 
fine,  to  redeem  himself  from  the  punishment  of  death  by  strangula- 
tion. 

"  Upon  this  report  the  supreme  court  observes,  that  the  case 
appears  to  be  one  of  those  acts,  of  the  consequences  of  which^ 
neither  sight,  hearing,  or  reflection,  could  have  given  a  previous 
warning  ;  that  the  said  Edward  Sheen  should,  therefore,  be  allowed 
to  redeem  himself  from  the  punishment  of  death  by  strangulation^ 
by  the  payment  of  a  fine  (amounting  to  about  41.  3s.  sterling)  to  the 
relations  of  the  deceased,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  burial,  and 
then  be  dismissed  to  be  governed  in  an  orderly  mEinner  in  his  owu 
country." 

It  appears  that  the  bribe  necessary  to  procure  acquies- 
cence of  the  parties  interested,  to  this  mockery  of  justice, 
did  not  cost  the  seeurhy  merchants  less  than  ,^50j000i 


